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Supervisors’ transportation committee advances SRO sprinkler ordinance after tenant testimony
Summary
The committee advanced an ordinance to require sprinklers in nonresidential areas of residential hotels, adopting sponsor Aaron Peskin’s amendments to protect long‑term commercial tenants and giving affected tenants a DBI deferment application and notice requirement.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Transportation Committee on Monday advanced an ordinance that would amend the city’s fire and housing codes to require sprinklers in nonresidential areas of residential hotels.
Sponsor Supervisor Aaron Peskin told the committee the measure was a “measured approach” to improving fire safety in some of the city’s oldest buildings that hold a large share of affordable housing. Peskin cited recent fires that displaced dozens of residents as evidence of urgency and described amendments designed to protect ground‑floor commercial tenants who hold long‑term leases.
Under Peskin’s amendment, owners of residential hotels would be required to provide written notice 10 days prior to submitting a building permit application to any tenant occupying nonresidential areas subject to the upgrade. That notice would inform tenants of their right to apply to the Department of Building Inspection (DBI) for a deferment of the upgrade requirement. Peskin told the committee that tenants may qualify for a deferment if they hold a written lease in effect on the ordinance’s effective date and their lease explicitly requires the tenant to pay for building upgrades.
Members of tenant advocacy groups and residents who live in single‑room occupancy (SRO) hotels gave the committee multiple firsthand accounts of fires and near misses. Jordan Davis, tenant representative on the SRO task force, listed several recent fires and displacements including the Greywood Hotel (2016) and the Park Hotel (2011), and said the ordinance “will play a huge role” in reducing the chance that people living in these hotels end up homeless.
Following public comment, Supervisor Peskin moved to send the ordinance as amended to the full Board with a recommendation. Chair Mark Farrell said the committee could take the motion without objection, advancing the item to the Board.
The committee’s action sends the measure to the full Board for further consideration and any additional amendments. The ordinance text before the committee defines the DBI deferment criteria and the timing and scope of the tenant notice that would accompany permit filings.
