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Planning staff outlines housing element to meet tripled RHNA target; shortage of ~34,000 units means rezoning and new funding are required
Summary
Planning Department staff told the commission the city must plan for roughly 94,000 units (82,000 RHNA plus a 15% buffer) but currently has capacity for about 59,000 units; staff proposed rezoning, ministerial pathways and an implementation program and said a circuit‑breaker policy is being studied.
Planning Department staff presented the Housing Element Update 2022 to the San Francisco Planning Commission on Nov. 3, saying the city faces a dramatically higher Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) and needs widespread rezoning, funding and implementation changes to comply with state law.
"We had, approximately 82,000 unit RHNA total," James Pappas, a senior planner leading the site‑inventory work, told the commission. To meet state requirements and to provide a no‑net‑loss buffer under SB 166, staff recommended planning for about 94,000 units — the 82,000 target plus a 15% buffer.
Staff said the sites inventory and pipeline analysis identifies roughly 59,000 units of realistic capacity today, leaving a shortfall of about 34,000–35,000 units that would need to be accommodated through rezoning and other actions. To achieve that, staff described three…
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