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Supervisors endorse housing policy declaration after compromise; focus on 33% affordability in Central SoMa and neighborhood stabilization
Summary
The Board of Supervisors adopted a housing-policy declaration that sets targets and a work plan — including a 33% affordability target for Central SoMa — as part of a compromise that removed a stricter land-use mandate from the ballot.
The Board of Supervisors adopted a declaration of policy aimed at addressing San Francisco’s housing affordability and displacement challenges after a high-profile compromise among community groups, supervisors and the mayor’s office.
Supervisor Jane Kim (sponsor) told the board the declaration was the product of weeks of negotiation between community advocates, developers and the mayor’s office. The text asks voters to endorse a city policy that includes goals and a work plan rather than a binding land-use mandate the sponsor had originally proposed for the ballot. Key agreed elements include a goal to support production of 30,000 units citywide with at least one-third affordable to low- and moderate-income households, a commitment to pursue a minimum of 33% affordable housing in the Central SoMa area and future area plans, and creation of a neighborhood stabilization trust to acquire and rehabilitate properties at risk of displacement.
Supervisor Kim described the package as a compromise and said the board and mayor’s office will pursue a legislative and administrative path over the next year to implement the plan. The work includes interim planning controls to limit conversions and displacement during Central SoMa planning, a neighborhood stabilization trust to finance acquisitions, and a menu of funding strategies to be studied for possible implementation, such as a general obligation bond, tiered in-lieu fees, a luxury housing fee, a jobs-housing linkage fee increase, and other revenue mechanisms.
Some advocates and supervisors said the outcome fell short of the original housing-balance enforcement mechanism they had backed; Supervisor Campos said he was disappointed that stronger tools were not adopted, though he supported sending the policy to the ballot for voter consideration. Other supervisors, including Supervisor Farrell and Supervisor Chu, noted the work plan and near-term steps — funding studies, interim controls and increased emphasis on public-housing rehabilitation — and supported moving forward.
The board accepted the policy declaration and ordered it to the November ballot as a statement of policy memorializing the agreement and the city’s commitment to further steps to fund and implement stabilization and affordability measures.
