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Planning Department unveils draft rezoning map to expand housing choice; public offers mixed reactions
Summary
The Planning Department presented the April 2025 draft "Expanding Housing Choice" rezoning plan, a multi-pronged package that would add capacity across transit and commercial corridors, create a local alternative to the state density bonus, and use limited form-based density decontrol off main streets to help San Francisco demonstrate the capacity the state requires in its RHNA allocation.
The San Francisco Planning Department presented its "Expanding Housing Choice" rezoning package at an informational hearing April 10, outlining a draft zoning map and a new optional "local program" intended to create zoning capacity the city must demonstrate under state housing law.
Lisa Chen, principal planner and project manager, said the rezoning is anchored in the housing element and the state's regional housing needs allocation (RHNA). "This project, expanding housing choice, is rooted in our obligation to affirmatively further fair housing and expand opportunities for people to live in San Francisco," Chen said during the staff presentation.
Staff told commissioners the region and state assigned San Francisco an RHNA target of about 82,000 homes across all income levels, and that the city's pipeline and existing capacity leave a shortfall of roughly 36,000 units. To meet statutory requirements and "affirmatively further fair housing," staff said the department's draft map concentrates much of the new capacity within high-opportunity areas (higher-performing schools, lower pollution and higher incomes) so that households with affordable units can access opportunity.
Major features of the April 2025 draft map and associated legislation, as described by staff:
- Form-based density decontrol in many residential blocks off main corridors: in parts of the city staff proposes to remove local numerical…
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