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Planning staff: Planning Commission asks changes to affordable housing bonus before it reaches Board
Summary
Planning staff told the Historic Preservation Commission the Planning Commission forwarded a proposed affordable-housing density bonus ordinance to the Board of Supervisors without recommendation, asking for exclusions of parcels with existing housing, a phased rollout, stronger protections for small businesses and historic properties, and a re-evaluation of middle-income thresholds.
Planning Department staff told the Historic Preservation Commission on March 2 that the Planning Commission had taken separate votes on parts of a proposed affordable housing bonus ordinance and sent the measure to the Board of Supervisors without a recommendation.
The Planning Commission asked staff to remove any parcels that currently contain residential units from eligibility, even if the units are rent-controlled; to adopt a phased approach that would prioritize entirely vacant parcels and sites with gas stations; to examine impacts on small businesses and historic properties and to consider ways to retain small-storefront character in neighborhood commercial areas; and to re-evaluate the area median income thresholds used for the program’s "middle income" component.
An unnamed Planning Department presenter said the department’s initial mapping shows the program could theoretically apply to about 30,000 parcels citywide but that a first-pass list of roughly 240 parcels — those without housing or historic resources — would be the likely initial candidates for the local program. "Those 240 parcels we think would still work, based on the recommendations that they have made," the presenter said.
The presenter also warned that if the Board does not adopt a local approach, projects in the city may invoke the state density bonus law. "Projects could invoke on their own the State bonus density program" under recent case law, the presenter said, noting several projects in the planning office already are invoking the state law.
Tim Frey, department staff, told commissioners the department will bring related work — including a Neighborhood Commercial District survey and a Historic Context Survey — back to the commission in mid-June to clarify where greater densities are appropriate and which buildings should be considered individual historic resources.
The commission did not take action on the ordinance at the hearing; staff said the Planning Commission’s recommendations and the additional analyses will accompany the measure when it reaches the Board of Supervisors.
The commission’s further review of neighborhood surveys and design guidelines is expected to inform whether and how the bonus program moves forward.
