Board hears Bay Area 'FOCUS' plan urging voluntary priority development and conservation areas

San Francisco Board of Supervisors members heard a detailed briefing May 22 on the Focusing Our Vision (FOCUS) regional planning initiative, which aims to encourage infill housing and protect open space across the Bay Area by designating voluntary Priority Development Areas (PDAs) and Priority Conservation Areas (PCAs).

The presentation, led by Ken Kirke, planning director for the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), and regional staff representatives, explained that FOCUS is a multi-agency effort involving ABAG, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). "This is about truly focusing growth in the right places in the region," Kirke said, describing PDAs as locations near existing or planned transit that are suitable for housing-focused infill.

Why it matters: regionally coordinated PDA designations are being tied to potential incentives — including regional transportation program money, existing regional grant programs (Transportation for Livable Communities and the Housing Incentive Program), and anticipated state bond funds — that the presenters said could flow to jurisdictions that opt in and plan for growth there.

Regional staff said the program is voluntary and not a new state mandate. Ken Kirke told supervisors the entry-level application process for PDAs is open now and that the deadline to submit PDAs to the region is June 29. He said the agencies are working to design both planning and capital grant programs and to align available incentives with the regional transportation plan update under way for 2009.

San Francisco staff told the board the city is already pursuing many of the areas that would qualify as PDAs. Doug Shoemaker of the Mayor’s Office of Housing said city agencies — including the Planning Department, the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) and Rec and Park — have been coordinating to prepare a draft PDA application and a broad budget estimate to help scope potential requests for state and regional funds. "We're not proposing anything new," Sarah Dennis of the Planning Department said, showing maps of Eastern Neighborhoods, downtown and other plan areas she said already account for roughly 90 percent of expected city growth through 2025.

Tilly Chang, deputy director for planning at the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, emphasized the program’s transportation implications and the need to identify infrastructure and operating funds to meet higher transit demand in growth areas. "San Francisco will need to be at the table in order to get our fair share," Chang said, noting that the PDA designation is intended to help maximize allocations of state bond funds and regional transportation funds.

Supervisors raised fiscal and equity concerns. Supervisor McGoldrick asked whether FOCUS addresses revenue-sharing or compensation for jurisdictions that absorb high-density development and its costs; regional staff said fiscal questions — including impacts of Proposition 13 and RHNA (regional housing needs allocation) numbers — have come up at other county briefings and will need continued discussion at the regional level. Supervisor Maxwell asked whether emergency management and evacuation planning have been considered for high-density areas; staff said emergency management agencies have begun exploring regional coordination and that some regional briefings have included disaster-preparedness officials.

Next steps and city timing: the board was told city staff will return with a proposed local resolution to support San Francisco’s PDA applications before the regional June 29 deadline. Shoemaker said city agencies aim to present a fuller draft application in early June for supervisors’ feedback and to scope a broad budget to inform requests for state and regional funds. Regional staff said they expect an initial small pot of incentive funding to be available later in 2007 and that the 2009 Regional Transportation Plan update will be an important source of long-term funding decisions.

Supporters and critics: presenters and several supervisors described FOCUS as an opportunity to link housing, jobs and transportation, improve air quality and reduce vehicle miles traveled. Other speakers and supervisors asked for stronger assurances on how incentives and transportation dollars would be allocated and urged explicit attention to equity, displacement risk and access to regional open space.

The Board did not take a vote on the regional program during the hearing. Staff said they will return with a local resolution and proposed PDA map for the board to consider before the regional June 29 application deadline.