Land Use committee advances Family Zoning package, accepts sponsor amendments and schedules follow-up hearings

Supervisor Mirna Melgar convened the Land Use and Transportation Committee on Oct. 20 for a six‑hour hearing on the mayor’s Family Zoning rezoning package and related affordable‑housing strategies. Planning staff and the mayor’s housing office described the package as a citywide rezoning designed to create capacity to meet the state Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) and avoid state enforcement measures.

"This project is many, many months and, sometimes evenings, in the making," Rachel Tanner, director of long‑range planning, told the committee as she introduced principal planner Lisa Chen and James Pappas, who presented an analysis of sites for 100% affordable housing. Chen said the rezoning would add mid‑rise corridors, create a new residential transit‑oriented commercial (RTOC) district and a Housing Choice San Francisco local program that offers a menu of incentives in exchange for abiding by local design standards.

Chen warned of legal and fiscal consequences if the city fails to provide the capacity required by state housing law: "If we fail to adopt a rezoning that meets state requirements, we could lose local control, lose control over local…