The Board of Supervisors is set to debate and potentially pass some new legislation this fall that would allow for so-called "density bonuses" in neighborhoods where not a lot of housing density currently exists. These bonuses would allow developers to build up to two stories taller on sites that are zoned for four or six stories, which due to zoning established in the 1970s represents the vast majority of San Francisco. In exchange, a developer would have to make 30 percent of the new building affordable — 12 percent to low-income renters or buyers, and 18 percent to middle-income people. But as the Business Times reports, simply making such new rules doesn't guarantee that denser housing will get built in neighborhoods like the Sunset, Richmond, or Marina, because we all know how difficult the NIMBYs can be about anything new (or tall) getting built near where they live.

Density bonuses are fairly common across the country, and in fact California has a density bonus law that San Francisco has been out of compliance with for years.

Essentially, the new legislation, drafted by the Planning Department, would allow not just extra height, but would allow for unlimited density within the building's volume. So, where a site might be zoned for 40 feet in height and one unit per 600 square feet, a developer could go up two stories and add multiple smaller units to the mix to make affordable unit construction financially feasible.

density-map.jpg

The blue areas in the map above show the "study area" for the density bonus, and as you can see it encompasses a huge swath of town including parts of the Mission, retail corridors of Sunset, big parts of the Richmond, and much of Russian Hill, Nob Hill, and North Beach.

Gabriel Metcalf of SPUR is pessimistic about the plan, however, because while he's all for more density, he doesn't see this as much of a fix when you have so many litigious, noisy neighbors looking to stymie every new project. "There’s nothing in this reform that will make it any easier to get permission to build housing," he says.

The Supervisors will vote on the legislation, which will involve an amendment to the city's planning code, this fall after it goes before the Planning Commission.

Previously: Should The Mission Have More High-Rises?

Courtesy of SF Planning Department