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Committee advances broad ADU expansion with amendments, sends ordinance to full board
Summary
The Land Use and Transportation Committee advanced an ordinance to expand accessory dwelling units citywide, accepted amendments addressing unit-size minimums, seismic retrofit incentives and subdivision/sale rules for condominiums, and referred the package to the full board without recommendation pending final edits.
Supervisor Aaron Peskin presented an ordinance to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on all lots that permit residential uses and to revise the administrative code definition of rental unit. The ordinance would expand an infill housing strategy to convert existing unused spaces into rental units and, for larger buildings, remove a cap on the number of ADUs allowed per lot. The package includes minimum unit-size standards (350 square feet for studios and 550 for one-bedroom units) and clarifying language tying ADU eligibility to the existing built envelope.
Planning staff told the committee that since 2014 the city has received more than 70 applications (about 130 units) and recommended several changes from a March 2014 report: add findings for discretionary review, consider changing the 1,000-foot school buffer to the state standard of 600 feet to reduce clustering, and amend agriculture and manufacturing use definitions to address cultivation and production if allowed. Staff also recommended targeted changes to the zoning-administrator bulletin so that conversions within certain light wells or under bay windows would be treated as within the existing built envelope.
Public comment included neighborhood groups, housing advocates and industry representatives. Supporters argued ADUs can add rent-controlled housing with minimal neighborhood impact; some neighborhood representatives urged a community-planning process and raised CEQA and general-plan questions. The committee considered and accepted several amendments (clarifying bulletin items, subdivision rules for condominium buildings with safeguards, and retaining seismic-ADU provisions) and moved to send the ordinance as amended to the full Board of Supervisors without a recommendation to allow final working-group edits.
Why it matters: ADU expansion is intended to add housing stock while preserving neighborhood character and leveraging seismic-retrofit work to produce new rent-controlled units. The ordinance will affect zoning, permitting, building standards and the future pipeline of smaller rental units.
What's next: Committee members pledged to finalize remaining technical amendments over the coming week; the ordinance will be considered by the full board.
