Historic Preservation Commission reviews Housing Element 2022 update and EIR preservation alternative

The Historic Preservation Commission on Oct. 20 heard an informational presentation on San Francisco’s Housing Element 2022 update and the draft programmatic environmental impact report (EIR) preservation alternative, with staff describing how the plan centers racial and social equity while increasing the city’s housing targets.

Shelley, Cultural Heritage Specialist on the planning department’s housing team, told commissioners the housing element is the city’s legislative housing plan required by state law and that the 2022 update “will direct the city to recognize and repair the harms done, to bring stability to communities that have faced discrimination.” She outlined outreach results, including about 1,600 survey responses and dozens of focus groups aimed at low‑income residents and communities of color.

Kimia Haddadan, the project’s policy architect, described the plan’s scale: staff modeled a 30‑year target that planners have characterized as roughly 150,000 units through 2050 and said the update will require substantially more production of deeply affordable units than the previous cycle. Staff also noted roughly 70,000 units are currently in…