Board approves major inclusionary housing ordinance on first reading after lengthy debate

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on June 27 voted unanimously on first reading to advance an amended ordinance that raises the city's inclusionary housing requirements for market-rate development and adds new middle-income set-asides.

Supporters said the ordinance, negotiated across several supervisor offices and stakeholder groups, will produce more low- and middle-income homes in a city with rising displacement and shrinking middle-class housing.

Supervisor Kim, the bill's primary sponsor, told colleagues the ordinance restores a 15 percent requirement for low-income inclusionary units while adding a first-time 10 percent requirement for middle-income units, setting a combined 25 percent baseline: "This is really a historic ordinance. We are setting the highest rate in the nation for our private market rate developers in terms of our expectation for them to contribute back in towards building working class and middle class housing," Supervisor Kim said.

Why it matters: San Francisco faces a shortfall of housing across income levels. Backers said the measure is intended to capture more affordable housing from…