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Supervisor Safaie unveils draft effort to streamline San Francisco site-permit process to cut months from development timeline
Summary
Supervisor Ahsha Safaie and Supervisor Mirna Melgar said they are drafting building code amendments to make site permits mandatory, limit early reviews to planning, building and fire departments and create a clearer entitlement milestone, with the goal of reducing permit time by months to years.
Supervisor Ahsha Safaie told the board March 14 that she and Supervisor Mirna Melgar have drafted code changes intended to speed San Francisco—s building-permit process by re-establishing and narrowing the scope of the "site permit" milestone.
Safaie told colleagues the city—s current site-permit process has expanded over time and now mirrors the building-permit review, adding multiple departmental reviews and routing steps. "We want to strip that back and we want to have only the planning department, the building department, and the fire department weigh in with early comments," Safaie said, adding the change is intended to create a clearer "hard stop" where entitlement ends and building permits begin.
Safaie said the proposal is the result of more than a year of outreach to builders, architects, small and large developers, and city agencies, and that the goal is to reduce the median time to secure a permit. "We believe that in and of itself, doing those few things, will speed the process up anywhere between 8 to 18 months in the development and review process," Safaie said, citing industry feedback and the city—s median permit times.
Supervisor Safaie said he is working with the City Attorney—s office to introduce building-code amendments and that the proposal is already roughly two-thirds drafted and expected to be ready for introduction within weeks. He also said he was discussing the reforms with the Department of Building Inspection (DBI) and with the Planning Department and the Fire Department to limit early discretionary review to those three departments.
The proposal drew assurances from other supervisors that they want to protect local small-business participation in city contracting. Supervisor Connie Chan and others said the changes deserved careful review, while Supervisor Scott Wiener noted the board had recently adopted a housing element emphasizing the need to accelerate housing production.
Next steps: Safaie said he expects to circulate the draft code amendments soon and to pursue committee hearings and further stakeholder engagement before any final vote. The item is an introductory proposal and not a formal ordinance on this agenda.
Why it matters: San Francisco—s building-permit timeline has been widely criticized as a barrier to housing construction. The proposed changes would narrow early reviews and clarify entitlement milestones, with proponents saying the reforms could reduce permit times substantially and accelerate housing production.
Ending: Supervisors requested continued outreach and analysis, particularly to ensure small builders and Local Business Enterprises (LBEs) are not disadvantaged by process changes.
