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Land Use panel advances ADU legalization for Districts 3 and 8, sends restrictions back to Planning
Summary
The committee voted to forward ADU (in‑law unit) ordinances for Districts 3 and 8 to the full Board with a monitoring requirement while sending versions that would ban short‑term rentals and bar ADUs where an Ellis Act eviction occurred in the past 10 years back to the Planning Commission for further review.
The Land Use and Transportation Committee on Wednesday moved forward ordinances to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in Supervisorial Districts 3 and 8 while parceling out contentious amendments for further consideration.
Supervisor Scott Wiener, one of the authors, said the bills build on prior ADU work and “will create new rent‑controlled units” that can add affordable housing without changing neighborhood character. Deputy City Attorney John Gibner told the committee that recent amendments — a short‑term rental (STR) prohibition and an Ellis Act eviction prohibition — could affect the city’s seismic ADU program and recommended referral of those restrictions to the Planning Commission for additional review.
Chair Supervisor Malia Cohen proposed duplicating the files: a version with the Ellis Act and STR prohibitions would go to the Planning Commission for that body’s analysis, while the version remaining in committee would remove the prohibitions and instead require the Planning Department to monitor ADU construction and report on STR use. The committee adopted the approach and forwarded the committee report with a positive recommendation to the full Board.
Public testimony was split. Housing advocates and ADU proponents urged expanding legal ADU production citywide and cautioned that added restrictions risk driving ADU construction underground. Others — neighborhood groups, tenant advocates and speakers from senior and disability organizations — pressed for safeguards to prevent conversions to short‑term rentals and to protect tenants displaced by prior Ellis Act evictions.
The motions recorded in committee send the monitoring‑first version to the full Board and direct versions with stricter prohibitions back to Planning for additional hearings and review. The city attorney said the monitoring requirement would include an applicant disclosure of intent to use an ADU as an STR so the city can track and, if necessary, enforce improper STR use.
Next steps: the Planning Commission will review the referrals on the STR and Ellis Act provisions; the committee’s committee‑report version with the monitoring requirement will be on the Board agenda as a positive recommendation.
