For many who reside in the city's westside neighborhoods and in the Marina, it'll be a cold day in hell before they allow their suburban-esque environs to get any more urban or dense. But it is a city, people!

The blunt instrument that is CEQA has once again been deployed in a threat to stymie or stall SF Mayor Daniel Lurie's "Family Zoning" plan before it's set to go into effect on Monday. As the Chronicle reports, a last-ditch lawsuit was expected to be filed Friday to halt the zoning changes, and the suit is being brought by two groups, San Francisco Neighborhoods United and Small Business Forward.

Lest they be called NIMBYs, a representative for SF Neighborhoods United, historic preservationist Katherine Petrin, tells the paper, "We are not filing this to prevent the plan from going forward." Petrin insists, "We have an opportunity to get it right, and that’s what we are wanting to do — to take a look at this project in ways that it really wasn’t looked at previously."

The suit is seeking to "compel further study" of the upzoning plan and its impacts on infrastructure, historic buildings, and more, using every NIMBY's favorite stalling tool, CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act.

Lurie's upzoning measure, which the Board of Supervisors approved last month and which comes in response to intense state pressure to build tens of thousands of new housing units in the next half-decade, would allow for six- to 10-story buildings on major thoroughfares in multiple parts of the west and north side San Francisco. But opponents fear the measure will lead to mass displacement of existing residents as older buildings are torn down for redevelopment, and will lead to altering the character of their neighborhoods.

Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, who supports the upzoning, tells the Chronicle that the displacement claims made by opponents are "factually not true, and it’s exploiting genuine concerns of residents across the city to score political points."

And regarding the new lawsuit's claim that the city skirted a full CEQA review, in non-compliance with the law, Jen Kwart, a spokesperson for the city attorney's office says, "The City took deliberate steps to comply with its obligations under state law, including CEQA," and "We are comforted that the California Department of Housing and Community Development reviewed the Family Zoning Plan and felt it complied with state law."

The same groups that are bringing this week's lawsuit are also looking to thwart the upzoning plan with a ballot measure this coming November, but clearly there is a fear that too many develpoment balls will already be rolling by then, and it will be harder to stop them.

Ironically, YIMBY Law, the legal arm of the California-based YIMBY movement, is also considering suing the city over the "Family Zoning" plan for the opposite reason — they say it doesn't go far enough in increasing density.

Lurie and other supporters of the upzoning plan warn all these critics that if the plan fails to go into effect, and if the city can't reach its annual goals for permitting new housing, the state can invoke the so-called Builder's Remedy, and allow a free-for-all for developers that neighbors will likely be horrified by. YIMBY Law, however, suggests that they'd prefer the Builder's Remedy to take effect at this point.

Previously: Lurie’s ‘Family Zoning’ Plan Approved by Board of Supervisors, Handing Lurie Major Political Win

Photo by Kimson Doan