Board orders municipal‑housing measure to ballot that would authorize up to 10,000 affordable rental units

The Board approved a motion on July 28 to order an initiative ordinance to the Nov. 3 ballot authorizing the City and County of San Francisco to own, develop, construct, acquire or rehabilitate up to 10,000 affordable rental units under Article 34 of the California Constitution.

Supervisor Dean Preston, the item’s lead sponsor, described the measure as one component of a broader progressive revenue and housing package intended to expand locally controlled affordable housing capacity in the face of Article 34 restrictions. Article 34 requires voter approval for publicly owned low‑income housing in California; the board’s measure would place San Francisco’s authorization on the local ballot to allow municipal housing projects without site‑by‑site ballots.

Preston and multiple co‑sponsors said the move is a local workaround to a state constitutional provision they describe as discriminatory in origin and effect. Several supervisors asked to be added as co‑sponsors during the meeting; the roll‑call vote approving the motion was unanimous.

Why it matters: Article 34 has compelled local jurisdictions to seek voter approval for municipally owned low‑income housing projects for decades; the ballot measure, if approved by voters, would give the city explicit authority to undertake up to 10,000 municipal affordable rental units without repeated voter referenda. Authors framed the measure as a tool to speed housing production and to advance equitable approaches to municipal housing finance.

What happens next: The motion orders the initiative to the November ballot. If voters approve the ordinance, the city would have the authority the measure describes and could proceed to plan, fund or acquire municipal affordable rental housing up to the authorized amount.