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Planning Commission approves ordinance to speed shelters, extend emergency authorities
Summary
The Planning Commission approved amendments to allow permissive permitting of homeless shelters in certain industrial and special districts during a declared shelter crisis, extend navigation-center operations beyond two years, and authorize expedited contracting for shelter projects; the measure includes a five-year administrative sunset or a 30% reduction trigger and passed unanimously.
The San Francisco Planning Commission on Feb. 28 approved amendments to the planning and administrative codes designed to accelerate construction and operation of homeless shelters during a declared shelter crisis. The ordinance allows shelters to be permitted in PDR and special-use (SUD/Sally) districts without a conditional-use authorization during a declared shelter crisis; permits shelters built during a crisis to become permanent; and authorizes the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) and Public Works to use an expedited contracting procedure that can waive competitive bidding for prequalified shelter providers.
"We estimate from our point-in-time count that on any given night we have 7,500 people living homeless in our community," Emily Cohen of Mayor Breed's office told the commission, adding that about 4,300 of those people are unsheltered. The mayor's legislative package includes the planning-code changes before the commission and a related measure to remove discretionary building-permit requirements for emergency shelters.
Planning staff briefed commissioners on the ordinance's features and safeguards. Kate Connor, planning staff, said the proposal would require a community process and reporting to the board, and includes a five-year administrative sunset or an earlier termination if homelessness drops by 30 percent. The ordinance also activates Assembly Bill 932 provisions and adopts Appendix N of the California Building Code for emergency housing standards applicable to temporary emergency housing typologies.
Supporters at the hearing urged quick action. Corey Smith of the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition said the measure "gets the ball rolling" to provide more shelter beds, while acknowledging funding remains a major barrier. Director Jeff Kositsky of HSH said the city must "scale up what we have" and that Mayor Breed has set a goal to create 1,000 more shelter beds by 2020.
Commissioners debated siting, community notification, and the limits of local authority. The motion to approve the planning- and administrative-code amendments — including the expedited contracting authority and the five-year sunset provision — passed unanimously, and the zoning administrator indicated he would grant the requested variance/authorization with standard conditions and a requirement that the project be amended to meet front-setback code requirements when applicable.
The ordinance is part of a broader mayoral package and staff said related analyses and candidate site lists are forthcoming; a report addressing the legislation is scheduled to appear in the commission packet for the March 14 hearing.
