Mayor London Breed just announced the third local proposition she's backing for the November ballot, and it would free up some 500 parcels in San Francisco that are publicly owned for the development of affordable housing.
Breed's proposed amendment to city zoning laws would allow housing development on property owned by the city, state, or federal government. This land could potentially be sold to developers for under market value in order to construct affordable and teacher housing on a large scale. Under current codes, anything zoned as public land can not be used for housing.
As the Chronicle reports, the measure would not allow development on park land.
Additionally, Breed's office is working on a measure to amend the City Charter to streamline reviews of affordable developments, and another measure to approve a new $500 million bond to build affordable housing.
"Our housing crisis is pushing out our teachers, our service workers, and countless other residents who are too integral to San Francisco," Breed writes on Twitter. "We can't afford to let our broken system continue, which is why I am introducing these important reforms."
District 5 Supervisor Vallie Brown and District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safai are co-sponsoring the charter amendment proposal, and three more supes need to get on board to get that on the ballot. Similarly, she will need supervisor support to get this third prop on the ballot.
I'm proud to co-sponsor the important reforms in @LondonBreed’s Charter amendment with my colleague @Ahsha_Safai. Making it easier to build 100% affordable housing and teacher housing is a critical step in tackling our affordability crisis. pic.twitter.com/C8mbv3wHcr
— Vallie Brown (@VallieBrownD5) April 24, 2019
Breed appears to be reacting, in part, to a situation given her by her predecessor.
Late Mayor Ed Lee earmarked $44 million for teacher housing back in 2017, and offered up some school district property, the Francis Scott Key Annex in the Outer Sunset, to build 150 units. But as the Chronicle notes, that project hasn't broken ground in part because of the onerous process of getting a zoning exception, because that is public land.
As the Chronicle notes, because the topic is affordable and not market-rate housing, the Board of Supervisors is unlikely to put up too much resistance to these measures.
Related: Mayor London Breed Shouted Down At Community Meeting On Embarcadero Navigation Center
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