Board of Supervisors endorses Treasure Island development plan with transportation and displacement protections

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Dec. 12 endorsed a development plan and term sheet for the redevelopment of Treasure Island, adopting several amendments that supervisors said are intended to protect the city’s budget and island residents while moving the long‑running project forward.

Supporters said the endorsements set policy parameters for a project that could include about 6,000 housing units, 30 percent affordable housing, and tens of millions in funding for affordable units and parks. Michael Cohen, a project representative, told supervisors the plan is intended to provide the framework for work over the next 18–24 months, including project‑level environmental review and a development deal with the project sponsor.

The board adopted amendments that require the Treasure Island developer and Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA) to: demonstrate transportation financing that will not rely on the city’s general fund; pursue state legislation (or a viable alternative) needed to implement congestion‑pricing and parking‑pricing programs; present a transportation plan for board review before the development disposition and development agreement (DDA) is approved; and report to the board within six months and then semi‑annually on transportation and parking planning. The board also amended language on the timing of general‑fund subsidies for municipal services, changing an earlier end date to February 2017 to align with project phasing.

Supervisors also added a transition‑plan amendment aimed at preventing displacement of existing households on Treasure Island. The transition language guarantees that existing households remaining in good standing through relocation will have the option to rent or buy an affordable unit at a rent equal to their current rent (adjusted by allowable annual rent increases under the San Francisco Rent Board, Administrative Code chapter 37) or at 30 percent of their income, whichever is lower, or an affordable purchase price. If a household cannot access an affordable unit, the amendment says the household has the right to rent a market‑rate unit at their current rent (subject to allowable annual rent increases).

Supervisor Chris Daly, who introduced much of the board’s committee work on the plan, emphasized that the board’s amendments were intended to preserve board oversight and fiscal protections for the rest of the city. Supervisor Maxwell and others described the plan as a decades‑long effort that offers substantial public benefits — large parks, affordable housing and a new urban core — but acknowledged key pieces (transportation financing and affordable‑housing implementation) remain to be resolved.

Several supervisors pressed for explicit protections so that transportation costs and any ongoing municipal services for the island do not create additional burdens on the general fund or reduce services elsewhere in the city. The board’s amendments require that unreimbursed costs recoverable under the exclusive negotiation agreement (ENA) be treated as project costs and be paid prior to distribution of project revenues, and that TIDA consult with the city attorney on any additions or modifications needed to implement the resolution’s terms.

The board approved the resolution as amended on a 10–1 roll call vote.

Looking ahead, the city will need to fold the board’s amendments into the DDA and into the project’s financing and transportation analyses; supervisors and staff said additional technical work on financing, implementation and environmental review will follow before final approvals of the DDA and project‑level entitlements.