Planning commission continues Judy Wu properties after veterans urge more time to avoid displacement

The San Francisco Planning Commission voted unanimously on July 27 to continue discretionary-review items related to the Judy Wu properties, moving the matters to Oct. 5 to allow additional work with tenants and city offices.

Tenant advocates and residents, many of them veterans, told the commission they oppose demolition and want more time to negotiate alternatives. Tommy Avakoli Mecha of the Housing Rights Committee asked the commission to defer action so the supervisor’s office and the mayor’s housing office could find solutions that let current residents remain in place. “They have done nothing wrong,” Mecha said of the tenants and said the city has not identified comparable housing options.

Several tenants described longstanding residence and habitability. John Brown, who identified himself as a Vietnam veteran, said he has lived in his unit for more than six years and called the unit “habitable,” adding that displacement would create a hardship. Other tenants — including Kirby Lewis and Fred Bryant, both veterans — gave similar accounts and urged the commission to deny demolition and instead allow time for the city to find alternatives.

Commissioner Moore moved to continue the listed items as read into the record and to place the discretionary-review items 16A–H on the Oct. 5 calendar; the motion was seconded and passed 5–0. Commissioners who voted in favor were Fong, Johnson, Coppell, Moore and Chair Richards.

Staff said the continuances are intended to give the city and the supervisor’s office time to develop mitigation or rehousing options so that residents, many of them seniors, disabled or voucher holders, are not forced into hotels or shelters that they regard as unsuitable. The continuance leaves open a future hearing where the commission may consider evidence once neighborhood notification and further staff work are complete.