Planning Commission recommends disapproval of Board of Supervisors amendment to allow some off‑site affordable units beyond 1 mile

San Francisco — The Planning Commission recommended that the Board of Supervisors not amend Planning Code section 315.5 to let up to 25% of required off‑site inclusionary housing be sited outside the current one‑mile radius, saying the change would dilute the code’s objective of promoting income integration within neighborhoods.

Tara Sullivan of the Planning Department summarized the proposed Board ordinance and the department’s analysis. The draft amendment would let developers place up to one‑quarter of required off‑site affordable units more than a mile away from the market project, provided those units were not sited in industrial zones or within a quarter‑mile of large public housing projects. Staff recommended against the change, noting that the 1‑mile rule had been in place for only about 18 months and that recent Market Octavia and other code changes strengthened controls explicitly to encourage integrated neighborhoods.

Several speakers described a special‑case project — the Booker T. Washington Community Services Center proposal — that might be affected by a strict one‑mile rule. Representatives urged the commission to soften language or allow case‑by‑case exceptions so that important non‑profit developments that rely on off‑site credits would not be stymied. The commission’s debate acknowledged that the Board sponsor sought flexibility for particular projects but concluded that a broad code change would be premature and could invite the concentration of affordable units in lower‑value neighborhoods.

By recorded vote the commission approved staff’s recommendation to recommend disapproval to the Board of Supervisors. Several commissioners urged the Board to work with project sponsors and staff on narrow, written exceptions if needed for discrete projects rather than a general change.