San Francisco supervisors seek master plan as departments outline shortfall in senior, disability housing

Supervisor Gordon Marr convened the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee hearing on Jan. 27, 2022 to review the city’s approach to housing and supportive services for older adults and people with disabilities. Departments from planning, housing, homelessness response, public health and aging services presented current programs, constraints and proposed next steps.

City officials framed the hearing as a first step to quantify need and coordinate cross-department planning. "This hearing today is really what I'm viewing it as a first step in looking at how we can better plan as a city to meet the full spectrum of housing needs and supportive services needs for our aging population and people with disabilities," Chair Gordon Marr said at the start of the hearing.

The Planning Department presented housing-element analysis showing about 138,000 residents age 65 or older (2018 data used in the draft needs assessment) and reported that roughly 48% of seniors are very low income; the department said senior-specific policy work (Policy 27) and tools such as ADUs and co-housing can help but that market conditions and construction costs limit supply. "Under current planning regulations, the department recognizes two specific definitions of note: senior housing, which is a residential use, and residential care facilities," Planning's Maya Small told the…