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Planning commissioners hear update on Mayor’s Housing Working Group; staff outlines path to 10,000 affordable units
Summary
Planning Department staff told the Planning Commission the Mayor’s Housing Working Group is pursuing small‑sites acquisitions, legalization of accessory units and a local density‑bonus to meet the city’s affordable housing goals; staff said about 60% of identified affordable units have filed with Planning and emphasized funding gaps remain.
The San Francisco Planning Commission heard a quarterly update from the Mayor’s Housing Working Group on Nov. 20, with Planning Department staff laying out steps to preserve neighborhood affordability and accelerate new affordable units.
Kate Connor, Housing Implementation Specialist for the Planning Department, said the city is pursuing five efforts to preserve affordability, including a “small sites” acquisition program to buy small rental buildings and keep them affordable, legalization of in‑law units, and an accessory‑unit handbook to help homeowners add secondary units. Connor said about 60 percent of the projects identified to reach the Working Group’s 10,000‑unit affordable target have at least filed with the Planning Department.
Planning staff described additional tools under study to increase affordability in new development, such as changes to the off‑site inclusionary alternative and a local density‑bonus program modeled on state law. Kirsten Deissinger, citywide planner, said the department is tracking entitlement timelines and will publish a web tool to show progress toward the 30,000‑unit citywide goal and the 10,000 affordable‑unit subset. Kate Hartley of the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development told commissioners the 10,000 units listed in staff materials are, in their view, fully funded through conservative projections that include Housing Trust Fund, federal HOME/CDBG, affordable‑housing fees and other known sources, while acknowledging costs are rising and redevelopment funds were lost.
Public speakers urged the commission to address short‑term rentals and the loss of housing to vacation‑rental platforms, to focus on enforcement, and to pay attention to neighborhood‑scale distribution of new units rather than only citywide totals. Several community groups asked for more hearings on short‑term‑rental enforcement and on whether pipeline projects will actually serve local residents.
Commissioners emphasized next steps: multiple hearings on short‑term rental enforcement are expected in coming months, the Planning Department will return with quarterly updates and with more detail on implementation tools, and staff said it will keep working with the Mayor’s Office and other agencies on funding and entitlement priorities.
The department did not propose approvals at the hearing; commissioners praised the outreach and asked staff to return with more concrete implementation steps and monitoring tools at future meetings.
