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Committee adopts amendments, orders outreach as it advances citywide parking‑minimum removal
Summary
After hours of testimony and debate, the Land Use Committee adopted amendments to eliminate citywide minimum parking requirements and continued the item to Nov. 26 to allow additional district outreach requested by several supervisors.
The Land Use Committee on Monday adopted a package of amendments designed to remove minimum off‑street parking requirements from the San Francisco planning code and continued the item for focused outreach to supervisors representing districts with strong parking concerns.
Sponsor Supervisor Kim said eliminating minimum parking requirements would simplify the code, reduce housing costs and support Vision Zero and transit‑first policies. "There is no land use or policy rationale for keeping minimum parking requirements in any zoning districts in the city," she said, noting existing pathways already allow many projects to reduce parking and that the ordinance removes the floor, not the ceiling, on parking supply.
The Planning Department and transportation agencies including SFMTA and SFCTA urged support. SFMTA planning director Sarah Jones said, "Parking minimums have no place in a transit first city. They have no place in a Vision Zero city." Transit and pedestrian advocates — including Walk San Francisco, SPUR and Livable City — testified in favor.
Public comment — largely supportive but with cautionary notes — spanned developers, community groups and residents. Speakers supporting the change said minimums drive up housing costs and induce driving; critical voices, including some supervisors, asked for additional community outreach and noted that families in some neighborhoods rely on cars for school and weekend trips.
Following the public hearing, supervisors debated amendments and outreach. Supervisor Safaie sought and won an explicit additional outreach plan for districts with concerns and stressed the need for city agencies to explain impacts. Deputy city attorney John Givner reminded the committee that the amendments are substantive and recommended adopting the technical edits today and returning the file so it could come back to committee on November 26.
The committee adopted the substantive amendments and agreed to continue the item to November 26 so the sponsor and planning staff could conduct targeted outreach requested by committee members.
Next steps: the sponsor and Planning Department will carry out requested outreach and return with any further edits or a recommendation to send the ordinance to the full Board of Supervisors.
