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Planning staff reports state compliance and legislative updates; public urges enhanced code‑enforcement policy
Summary
Planning Department staff reported a memo sent to the state showing apparent compliance with a rewilding-related law and summarized recent land-use committee action. A public commenter urged the department to present an enhanced code-enforcement policy within 90 days and suggested penalties up to $250,000 for listed violations.
Department staff and the commission used the Dec. 11 meeting to provide legislative and departmental updates and to hear public requests for stronger enforcement policy.
Aaron Star, manager of legislative affairs, summarized recent action in the Board of Supervisors’ land use and transportation committee: a proposed rezoning for 1236 Carroll Avenue to support a San Francisco Fire Department training facility (previously recommended to the board by this commission), the mayor’s adaptive-reuse ordinance (continued for outreach), and substantial amendments to Supervisor Cheyenne Chen’s tenant-protection ordinance introduced by Supervisor Malgar, including converting several conditional-use findings to mandatory requirements and lowering an approval threshold to 70 percent; those changes led the committee to continue the file to Dec. 15 for additional review.
Staff also told commissioners they had researched a state bill addressing ‘‘rewilding’’ that affects the Recreation and Open Space element of the city’s general plan, sent a memo to the state roughly a year earlier, and believe the city is in compliance; they said they have not yet received a state response.
Separately, staff noted that senior community development specialist Oscar Grande was commended by the Board of Supervisors for his service. Commissioner Williams spoke in support of Grandé’s work with the Mission and Outer Mission communities.
During general public comment, Jerry Drentler asked the planning department to develop and present an enhanced code-enforcement proposal within 90 days, referencing a 2023 San Francisco ordinance cited in his remarks and urging standardized penalties and a mechanism to add repeat violators to DBI’s enhanced control list. Drentler suggested minimum one-time penalties of up to $250,000 for listed violations; the commission did not adopt new policy or penalty amounts at this hearing.
The department provided no timeline at the meeting for publishing a staff enforcement policy; staff did indicate they had previously prepared a memo to the state about rewilding compliance and will respond to commission follow-up requests.
