Board advances rent‑control expansion, backs 1994 cutoff after debate over advisory committee

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted on Oct. 8 to advance legislation that would expand the city’s rent‑control coverage by moving the new‑construction exemption date from 1979 to June 13, 1994. President Peskin introduced the amendment and the board approved the change on first reading and set the ordinance for a second reading at a special meeting on Oct. 15.

President Peskin framed the amendment as a large but targeted expansion. He said the 1994 cutoff would cover “some 16,000 units and some 40,000 renters,” calling it the largest expansion of rent control in decades and saying it balanced renter protections with development incentives. He said the change was offered as a “non‑substantive amendment” to move the timeline forward while preserving other elements of the ordinance.

Supporters said the measure would give renters more stability. Supervisor Preston described the proposal as “a significant step forward” to close a two‑tier system that currently leaves many renters unprotected. Supervisor Walton said the backdating to 1994 represented a “gracious step forward in terms of compromise.”

Several supervisors urged caution and asked for more stakeholder engagement before final passage. Supervisor Safaie said he’d received a morning letter from the building and construction trades asking for inclusion on a technical advisory committee and asked the city attorney to draft language to create that committee. Deputy City Attorney Sarah Crowley replied that inserting a technical advisory committee would be a substantive amendment requiring additional policy decisions, public comment and referral back to committee, a process that would delay the ordinance by at least two weeks.

Multiple supervisors proposed procedural compromises: a short continuance to allow formal drafting of advisory‑committee language, duplicating the file so the committee could continue parallel work, or adding findings in the ordinance that would call for inclusion of labor, tenants and business interests before future changes. A motion to continue the item for one week failed on a 4–7 vote. The board then voted 11–0 to adopt Peskin’s amended ordinance on first reading and to place its second reading on Oct. 15.

The board’s discussion repeatedly tied the local action to the statewide ballot fight over Proposition 33 and the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act: supervisors said the expansion would only take effect if state law permitted it or if a ballot measure passed. Supporters said acting now was a way to inform voters what the city would do if the state changed the law; critics said the board should finish technical drafting and stakeholder engagement first.

Next steps: the ordinance will return to the board for a required second reading at the Oct. 15 special meeting. If the board approves final passage after that reading and if state conditions align (for example, a change in Costa Hawkins), the effective coverage of rent control in San Francisco would expand to properties built through June 13, 1994.

Notes: Units and renter estimates were cited on the floor by President Peskin. City attorneys and multiple supervisors described creation of a technical advisory committee as a substantive change that would trigger public‑hearing requirements.