San Francisco committee backs 15-month pilot waiving building-code fees for 100% affordable projects and targeted ADUs

The Government Audit and Oversight Committee on July 18 recommended the Board of Supervisors approve a 15-month pilot that would waive specified building-code fees for 100% affordable housing projects and certain accessory dwelling units (ADUs), with new reporting requirements and limits on eligible ADU applicants.

Chair Supervisor Gordon Marr, a co-sponsor, said he proposed three amendments: set the pilot’s retroactive start date to June 1, 2019 to preserve roughly 15 months of the program; require DBI to report who benefits from ADU fee waivers (including whether applicants are individuals or large corporations, property type, ownership length and rental intent); and limit ADU fee waivers to single-family homes, buildings of four units or fewer, and nonprofit organizations. "As with any pilot, gathering and assessing data is vital to our decision to continue the program," Marr said.

Supervisor Erin Peskin and Supervisor Valerie Brown debated the unit-size threshold. Peskin and Marr said keeping the threshold at four units targets "mom-and-pop" owners rather than large institutional landlords, while Brown argued some districts show potential for ADU gains in slightly larger small buildings and suggested discussing whether a 10-unit threshold could be appropriate. Brown said she supports the reporting amendment: "Who's building these ADUs? I don't know. I mean, we all have speculation, but we don't know."

Bill Strahan of the Department of Building Inspection provided preliminary fee estimates tied to the ordinance’s original Feb. 26 retroactivity date: about 22 100%-affordable projects with roughly $675,000 in estimated fees, and approximately 99 ADU projects with roughly $280,000 in estimated fees. Strahan cautioned the totals are provisional because DBI typically collects fees for 100% affordable projects only at final occupancy (CFC). Dan Gonchar of the Budget & Legislative Analyst's office noted prior reporting that suggested a per-project average in the neighborhood of $3,200 and said a building-size breakout was not available in the BLA’s April report.

Public commenters offered mixed input. Peter Cohen of the Council of Community Housing Organizations supported the proposal as a modest, strategic subsidy for affordable housing and praised the reporting amendment. Other commenters urged broader or different policy choices. The committee accepted the introduced amendments without objection and recommended the ordinance to the full Board as amended.

If the Board approves the ordinance and the pilot progresses, staff will return with data required under the reporting amendment to evaluate whether the eligible threshold or other provisions should be adjusted.