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Board approves Midtown Terrace rezoning after vote to remove accessory‑dwelling exemption
Summary
Supervisors voted to rezone Midtown Terrace from RH‑1 to RH‑1D but removed an amendment that would have exempted the area from the city—s accessory‑dwelling unit rules, after weeks of neighborhood outreach and a contested committee amendment.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an ordinance rezoning the Midtown Terrace neighborhood in District 7 from RH‑1 (single‑family residential) to RH‑1D (single‑family detached), and adopted an amendment removing language that would have exempted the area from the city—s accessory‑dwelling unit (ADU) rules.
Supervisor Norman Yee, the district—s sponsor, said Midtown Terrace residents sought the rezoning to correct an inaccurate map and preserve the character of a neighborhood comprised of detached houses. "Midtown Terrace simply wanted to correct the planning code to reflect what is currently there," Supervisor Yee said.
That intent ran headlong into a more divisive policy debate about whether rezoning should carry a local exemption from the city—s ADU program. The amendment was proposed by Supervisor Scott Wiener in land use committee to retain ADU protections for the area; Supervisor Yee and several neighbors opposed tying the rezoning to an ADU policy change.
Deputy City Attorney John Gibner summarized the practical effect of the committee amendment as maintaining the neighborhood within the city—s ADU program even after rezoning to RH‑1D. Supervisor Wiener said his amendment sought to protect the citywide ADU gains while avoiding expansion of exemptions to new neighborhoods. "We have an opportunity ... to protect their side yards while not banning new in‑law units," Wiener said.
Supervisor Yee moved to remove Supervisor Wiener—s amendment, arguing Midtown Terrace had not been consulted about the policy change and that the rezoning request predated the ADU debate. The board voted 9–1 to adopt Supervisor Yee—s amendment (Supervisor Wiener was the lone no). The ordinance as amended then passed unanimously on first reading.
Roll calls during debate showed the board weighed deference to district supervisors and neighborhood outreach against policy consistency on ADUs. Several supervisors, including Jane Kim and London Breed, said they deferred to the district supervisor and the process that Midtown Terrace had followed.
The ordinance corrects the zoning map for a block of detached homes and removes the special exemption from the ADU rules that had been proposed in Supervisor Wiener—s committee amendment. The board recorded 10 ayes on final passage of the ordinance as amended.
Votes and next steps: The item passed first reading as amended and will return for a second reading per the municipal code timetable.
Provisions and clarifications: The board discussion emphasized that rezoning alone would not create new restrictions beyond aligning code with physical building types; the ADU question was a separate local policy issue that the board chose not to change as part of the rezoning.
