As was widely predicted, SF's District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio has been recalled, in a first-of-its-kind recall election of a sitting supervisor, largely because he supported closing the Great Highway to car traffic.

Joel Engardio conceded Tuesday's recall election after jut over 1,000 ballots had been counted at polling places, and after around 15,400 mail-in ballots had been counted, showing that 65% of his district's voters want him out.

Of the 16,437 votes counted as of Tuesday night, 10,625 voted Yes on the recall, and 5,812 voted No. The next updated count will come at 4 pm Thursday, but the lead of the recall proponents is likely insurmountable.

"My time as a city supervisor will be shorter than expected," Engardio said in a concession statement posted on his blog Tuesday night. "I accept the election results. But we can still celebrate. We are on the right side of history."

Engardio went on to defend the Sunset Dunes park that stirred the controversy that led to his ouster — a park that came with the closure of the Great Highway to traffic, inconveniencing some drivers on the city's west side, in a move that was seen as ignoring the neighborhoods' large Chinese American community.

"Sunset Dunes is a success," Engardio writes. "It’s good for the environment, good for our local economy, and it’s bringing joy to people of all ages. The feared traffic 'carmageddon' never came. We created something positive. Very soon, we will wonder why this was ever a controversy. We won’t be able to imagine San Francisco without a coastal park and all the benefits it offers."

Engardio further says that he "inherited a contentious debate" when it comes to the Great Highway, and he met with advocates for both sides of the debate, ultimately feeling that the park and more open space was more beneficial to the community. And he argues that as the park became more popular, the recall campaign "began to focus its anger on proposed new housing density."

"Do we want to be a city that looks to the past and preserve[s] it in amber?... If we never changed anything in San Francisco, the Sunset would still be sand dunes," Engardio says. "San Francisco will only realize its full potential if we let ourselves do bold things. We can’t be the most progressive city that fears change. We must be the most progressive city that embraces the future."

Residents of the district are anxious over Mayor Daniel Lurie's "family zoning" plan, which would bring taller, denser housing to the main corridors of the west side, and could change the low-slung, suburban-density character of the area. And while this may be popular across other corners of the city, Engardio's recall marks a moment when the defenders of the Sunset's lack of density have successfully pushed back.

"[Engardio’s] evolution to this white urbanist agenda, aligned with YIMBYs, is out of touch with the majority of the D4 constituency," says progressive political consultant David Ho, speaking to the Chronicle.

Another Sunset resident who is disabled, and who resented the loss of the Great Highway, Tony Villa, tells the Chronicle that this is also about defending the neighborhood from wealthy gentrifiers and the work-from-home set.

"The people moving in now are all millionaire tech people," Villa says. "All this stems from Engardio and especially [state Senator] Scott Wiener. They’re basically building a playground for the rich tech guys here. People who don’t have to go to work, drive their cars or take their kids to school."

Next up will be an ongoing fight over Lurie's rezoning plan, as Sunset residents say they feel the economic pressure of rising home prices as it is, and they don't want the character of the neighborhood to drastically change and push more people out.

Lurie will get to appoint Engardio's replacement on the Board of Supervisors, until another special election can be held, and that will be the mayor's first test in the fight to come.

Also, progressive Richmond District Supervisor Connie Chan has proposed putting a measure on the ballot in an upcoming election to reopen the Great Highway to cars, though in another citywide election — in a city that broadly supported Prop K less than a year ago — that seems destined to fail.

Previously: The 'Recall Joel Engardio' Election is Today, and 30% Have Already Voted by Mail