Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Preservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board advances ordinance to require conditional use for removing residential units, with amendments and further review
Summary
On first reading the board passed an amended ordinance requiring conditional use authorization for removal of residential units (with several exceptions), and approved technical edits and referral for trailing legislation to address single-family and unauthorized in-law unit concerns.
The Board advanced on first reading an ordinance (item 13) that would require conditional use authorization for the removal of any residential unit — whether authorized or unauthorized — subject to enumerated exceptions.
Sponsor Supervisor Chris Tang and Supervisor John Avalos described the ordinance as a housing-preservation measure intended to protect rental units and tenants from demolition or conversion that removes housing stock. The ordinance includes exceptions for single-family homes that are demonstrably unaffordable or unsound and for units that previously received planning approval. It also includes procedural changes in the building code to require notice when an owner files to legalize an unauthorized unit in certain circumstances.
During discussion, several supervisors, particularly those representing neighborhoods with many single-family homes, expressed concern about unintended consequences for homeowners doing legitimate remodeling. The sponsor said trailing legislation would be introduced to provide mandatory discretionary review rather than full conditional-use thresholds for certain single-family in-law situations and to refine grandfathering and legalization pathways.
Deputy City Attorney John Givner offered cleanup amendments (small code edits, renumbering subsections) that the board accepted. The board adopted the city-attorney technical amendments without objection and approved a motion to re-refer the item later in the agenda so trailing language could be developed; the item was then taken up and passed on first reading as amended. The roll-call recorded nine ayes and two noes (Supervisors Yi and Tang voted no on the final recorded roll call), and the ordinance as amended passed first reading.
Why it matters: The ordinance seeks to protect existing rental units and tenants by creating additional review before a unit can be removed from the housing supply; supervisors requested and the sponsor agreed to trailing legislation to avoid unintended burdens on homeowners seeking legitimate repairs or modest remodels.
Next steps: The board expects trailing legislation from Planning and the City Attorney to clarify mandatory discretionary review standards for single-family unauthorized in-law units and to finalize grandfathering/legalization language before final adoption.
