Supervisors advance broad ADU ordinance with amended limits, notice and subdivision restrictions

Supervisor Rosa Farrell and colleagues moved the committee forward on a major rewrite intended to spur new housing by allowing accessory dwelling units citywide while limiting potential neighborhood impacts.

Farrell said the package combines prior proposals and a negotiated compromise with Supervisor Aaron Peskin and Supervisor Scott Wiener. "The components and new amendments ... represent a deal and a compromise moving forward with one ADU policy," Farrell said.

The ordinance would allow unlimited ADUs in buildings of five or more units and cap new ADUs at one unit in buildings of four units or fewer. It would bar ADU use as short-term rentals, prohibit subdivision or separate sale of most ADUs in apartment buildings, and require notice in certain instances where an ADU would occupy additional eligible spaces.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who has worked on ADU proposals for years, urged clarity around the "built envelope" language after receiving constituent emails. He raised concerns that earlier drafts might allow enclosure of previously unenclosed decks and asked staff to ensure any expanded definition matched the committee's intent.

Planning staff acknowledged gaps in permit data but provided a sampling of units in the pipeline. The planning representative said staff had size information for 103 of roughly 135 ADUs in process and that about 35 of those would fall below earlier proposed minimums. That prompted members to set provisional minimums and request a full data breakdown in time for the full board.

Public comment was lengthy. Neighbourhood groups and residents welcomed ADUs as a tool to expand housing but urged limiting new units to the "built envelope" as of a date certain and excluding unenclosed patios or decks. The San Francisco Housing Action Coalition and housing advocates urged the committee to keep size limits low to maximize unit production.

Farrell read a package of amendments into the record that: clarify the built-envelope definition to include only spaces that existed as of 07/11/2016 (with limited exceptions under strict conditions); prohibit ADUs that would eliminate ground-floor retail in specified commercial districts; add a temporary minimum unit-size provision (proposed at 300 sq ft for studios and 500 sq ft for one-bedroom units pending data verification); restrict subdivision and separate sale of most ADUs; and add language to preserve eligibility for condo-conversion lotteries when an ADU is added in coordination with seismic retrofit programs.

The committee accepted the amendments without objection and voted to forward the ordinance as a committee report without recommendation so that companion measures would appear together at tomorrow's full board meeting. The item will go to the full Board of Supervisors for final consideration and possible additional text changes.

Next steps: planning staff committed to provide a unit-size breakdown for the remaining permits to inform any change to the provisional minimums at the full board.