Board advances "One City Shelter Act" to restrict new city‑funded shelters in overconcentrated neighborhoods

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on July 29 passed on first reading an ordinance intended to distribute city‑funded shelter and behavioral‑health residential facilities more equitably across neighborhoods.

The proposal, known on the floor as the "1 City Shelter Act," was introduced by Supervisor Mahmoud and won first‑reading approval on a 9–2 roll call. The ordinance would bar the city from siting new city‑funded homeless shelters, transitional housing or certain behavioral‑health residential care facilities in neighborhoods where the neighborhood's share of the city's shelter and transitional beds exceeds that neighborhood's share of the city's unsheltered population. The ordinance also creates a 300‑foot buffer between new shelters and allows the board to grant waivers if a finding is made that the siting is in the public interest. The measure includes a sunset date of Dec. 31, 2031.

"The 1 City Shelter Act is rooted in a simple but long overdue principle, that every neighborhood should…