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Supervisors advance board'backed "Affordable Homes for Educators and Families Now" initiative, file ordinance for ballot
Summary
The Rules Committee heard the supervisors' initiative to rezone public sites for 100% affordable and educator housing and filed the measure for the Nov. 5, 2019 ballot. Supporters said it would protect low-income educators and reserve public land for deeply affordable units; critics warned about timeline and financing limits.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Rules Committee on July 11 heard and filed an initiative ordinance authored by several supervisors that would amend the planning code to rezone public and private sites for 100% affordable housing and set rules for educator housing projects.
Supervisor Feuer, a lead sponsor, told the committee the board's measure was designed to keep public land and public subsidies focused on the city's lowest-income residents and educators. "Who are we leaving behind?" she asked, urging that affordable definitions not be raised so high that low-income households are excluded.
The ordinance would: allow 100% affordable and educator housing in more zoning districts; set size minimums, occupancy restrictions and dwelling-unit requirements; prohibit demolition of existing units; and include controls on massing and scale that could be waived. Sponsors said the measure also builds flexibility into an educator housing pilot so the program can be adjusted over time.
Speakers from United Educators of San Francisco (UESF) and other educator and tenant groups testified in favor, saying the proposal was developed with teachers and paraeducators to cover a wide range of incomes and unit sizes, including two- and three-bedroom units for families. "We were invited into discussions with the board of supervisors," said Ken Trae, representing UESF, during public comment.
Supporters pointed to funding already allocated to educator housing, including $20 million the board set aside in the housing bond and other local revenue streams, and said rezoning public sites was the quickest way to produce 100% affordable projects.
The committee formally "heard and filed" the board'backed ordinance (items 1 and 2 were taken together for hearing and filed for placement on the Nov. 5, 2019 ballot). No final ballot-language approval occurred at the committee; the action means the committee refers the measure onward consistent with committee rules.
The planning department and Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) provided technical detail at the hearing on zoning, CEQA and financing constraints. Anne Marie Rogers of the Planning Department reviewed thresholds and special limits in the proposed ordinance. "The supervisor's ordinance is more restrictive as to the housing that could be built," she said, noting size and occupancy provisions.
Next steps: the measure will proceed through the clerk's and city's publication processes for the fall ballot if the board continues to support it; supervisors said they expect further discussions with the mayor's office and educators about implementation details.
