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Planning staff says housing-review reforms are reducing delays but targets not yet met
Summary
Planning Department staff updated the commission on implementation of the Mayor's 2017 executive directive on housing production, saying consolidated project review and simplified CEQA checklists have shortened some steps but plan-check and post-entitlement targets still lag. Staff committed to continued process changes and new on-line tools.
The San Francisco Planning Department told the Planning Commission on Feb. 14 that it has begun to deliver on the Mayor's 2017 executive directive to speed housing approvals but that key targets remain a work in progress.
Jacob Bentliff, who led the presentation for the department, said earlier process changes ' including a consolidated project application, a shortened preliminary project assessment (PPA) timeline and a consolidated 90-day plan-check letter ' are intended to make approval time frames predictable. Bentliff said the department has reduced certain review steps and moved some environmental determinations into a checklist format.
Why it matters: The city is trying to shorten long approval cycles that can make projects financially infeasible. Bentliff said the department is focusing on predictable milestones so developers, neighbors and agencies know when key decisions will occur.
Bentliff highlighted early results from a June ecember 2018 rollout: PPAs are averaging about 63 days (near the 60-day target), notices of incomplete application averaged 17 days (well within the 30-day limit) and plan-check letters averaged about 80 days when completed. He also described a new historic resource assessment product to clarify preservation risk before applicants hire architects.
Commissioners pressed staff on how the directive's wide scheduling bands ' six to 22 months depending on environmental classification ' will be implemented and how to reduce the pre-entitlement time between PPA and a 'stable' project description. Bentliff said the city is tracking where time accumulates and already has made procedural and staffing adjustments; he pledged regular status reports back to the commission.
Bentliff also described several technical fixes: a GIS-based mailing list generator to speed neighborhood notice, online submittal and an electronic document-review system for plans.
Next steps: Staff said it will continue to report performance against the directive's targets and to refine timelines as the consolidated process matures. Commissioners asked for future details on how the department will measure delays attributable to applicants versus agency review.
Quote: "On average, projects that used to be in a 9-month CEQA exemption category were running about 18 months from application to approval," Bentliff said, noting the changes are intended to narrow that gap.
Outcome: No formal action by the commission was required; the presentation informed later budget and policy discussions.
