Board adopts COVID-era worker protections, interim zoning controls and landmark designations; votes at a glance

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Jan. 12 adopted a package of ordinances, resolutions and procedural actions addressing COVID-era worker protections, land-use controls and historic landmark initiation and took a separate vote urging the University of California regents to postpone action on a major UCSF expansion item.

Votes at a glance (key items; motions and roll-call tallies are on the public record):

- Ordinance (Item 10, first reading): An ordinance amending the police code to protect employees from adverse employment actions if they test positive for COVID-19, are isolating or quarantining, or are perceived to have had COVID-19. Passed on first reading unanimously (11 ayes).

- Ordinance reenactment (Item 11): Reenactment of an emergency ordinance (first enacted as 104-20 and reenacted previously) to create a temporary right to reemployment for certain employees laid off due to COVID-19. Required an affirmative vote of two-thirds (eight votes) and passed 10–1 (Supervisor Shamann Walton recorded as "I" in roll calls; the transcript shows Supervisor Ahsha Safaí?i and others voted yes; Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer/"Stephanie" recorded a no). (Vote record appears in the official minutes.)

- Ordinance reenactment (Item 12): Reenactment of an emergency ordinance requiring grocery, drugstore and on-demand delivery employers to provide health and scheduling protections during the public-health emergency. Passed unanimously (11 ayes).

- Resolution (Item 13, as amended): Adopted interim zoning controls for 18 months to require conditional-use authorization for residential development that does not maximize allowed density in certain RC, RM and RTO districts; the Board adopted nonsubstantive amendments and passed the item as amended unanimously (11 ayes).

- Landmark resolutions (Items 4, 5 and 14): Resolutions initiating landmark designations under Article 10 of the Planning Code for multiple properties (including the Jones Thierbach Coffee Company building at 447 Battery Street, an architecturally significant building at 1 Montgomery Street, and Diego Rivera's Parnassus fresco). Adopted unanimously (11 ayes each).

- Continuance (Items 6–9): The Board voted to continue a planning appeal related to a tentative map for a multi-unit condominium conversion on Francisco Street to March 2, 2021. Motion to continue passed 10–0 (one recusal recorded for Supervisor Dean Preston on those items); public comment on the continuance was taken before the vote.

How votes were handled: The online transcript records roll-call votes with each supervisor stating "I" or "Aye," and the clerk announcing totals as the official tally. The Board routinely recorded co-sponsors and amendments on the public record.

Context and next steps: Many measures on Jan. 12 were emergency or reenacted emergency ordinances intended to maintain worker protections during the ongoing public-health emergency. The interim zoning controls (Item 13) are explicitly temporary (18 months) and described by sponsors as an experiment to discourage construction of large single-family "McMansion" conversions in lots zoned for higher-density uses. Landmark initiations will proceed through Planning and Historic Preservation processes.

Sources: All vote counts, motion language and roll-call results are taken from the Jan. 12, 2021 Board of Supervisors public transcript and clerk's roll call as cited in the official meeting record.