Committee endorses code change to replace "family" with "household" to legalize shared housing

The Land Use & Transportation Committee on Dec. 15 voted to forward to the full Board an ordinance that replaces the Planning Code's antiquated definition of "family" with a modern "household" definition intended to legalize chosen-family and shared-housing arrangements.

Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, the item's sponsor, said the change corrects a discriminatory, outdated rule that requires unrelated residents to "cook together" or otherwise meet relationship criteria to be considered a household. "This is a progressive legislation that aligns our planning code with modern norms and recognizes the importance of chosen families," Mahmood said.

Aaron Star of the Planning Department summarized Planning Commission recommendations, including monitoring implementation for 24 months and treating residential care facilities as residential uses for inclusionary housing purposes. Plaintiff-advocacy and housing groups including the Sustainable Economies Law Center and Housing Action Coalition supported the change and urged minor technical fixes and monitoring to avoid unintended consequences for inclusionary housing and care settings.

The committee amended the ordinance as read into the record and recorded three ayes; the item will be transmitted to the Board with a positive recommendation.