Supervisors continue hearing on SRO hotel-conversion amortization; DBI highlights enforcement limits

The Land Use and Transportation Committee opened a continued public hearing on the Hotel Conversion Ordinance (HCO) and the appropriate amortization period for converting short-term tourist rooms back to long-term residential SRO units. Chair Aaron Peskin framed the discussion as an effort to restore SROs to their historical purpose as affordable housing for single adults, formerly homeless people, immigrants, and low-income residents.

Joseph Barber of the Department of Building Inspection said DBI enforces the current 7-day minimum and responds primarily to complaints. Barber acknowledged the agency has found a few cases where daily logs and occupancy reports appeared falsified—"cooking the books"—but said the department’s data are limited because much reporting is self-reported and based on snapshots (the annual unit usage report and daily logs). He said administrative subpoena power in the legislation would help DBI inspect business records and better determine true occupancy and payment records.

During public comment, Ryan Patterson of the San Francisco SRO Hotel Coalition urged a continuance and asked that confidential financial information be shared in a privileged setting when necessary. Katie Lamont, senior director of housing at TNDC, thanked the Board for the HCO's protections and offered the organization as a partner for implementation. Committee members repeatedly emphasized the need to balance property-owner concerns about recouping investments with preserving residential housing stock. Chair Peskin said the committee would continue the item to the call of the chair for further work with stakeholders and staff.

No final amortization period was adopted at committee; the hearing will be continued so staff can provide additional information and stakeholders can negotiate implementation details.