Pro-housing groups sue SF over family zoning plan
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
San Francisco now faces another lawsuit over its family zoning plan. Photo: Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
A coalition of pro-housing organizations is suing San Francisco over Mayor Daniel Lurie's family zoning plan, arguing that it fails to meet the state's housing mandate and doesn't properly rezone for lower-income housing.
Why it matters: It's the second legal challenge in two months against Lurie's zoning agenda, which he has lauded as a landmark accomplishment since its approval in December.
Driving the news: The lawsuit, filed Thursday by YIMBY Law, California Housing Defense Fund and Californians for Homeownership, alleges that the family zoning plan does not deliver the upzoning requirements of California's housing laws.
- The coalition cites city economist Ted Egan's October analysis, which found that the proposed rezoning would create roughly 14,600 new units over the next 20 years in the best case scenario.
- That falls short of the state's mandate for the city to plan for 82,000 units by 2031, which would require rezoning for 36,000 new homes in the next six years, per the San Francisco Standard.
Zoom in: Lurie's plan further violates state law by requiring development projects to pick between local and state density incentives, the latter of which permits greater height and faster approvals, YIMBY Law executive director Sonja Trauss told Axios.
- It also undercuts lower-income housing efforts by allowing zoning that doesn't meet state law, which requires designated lower-income housing sites to meet minimum density standards and limit non-residential uses, Traus noted.
- "If we don't challenge it, then there's a 100% chance that it never gets any better," she said.
The other side: The family zoning plan helps ensure the next generation of San Franciscans can afford to raise their kids here without handing the keys to Sacramento, Lurie spokesperson Charles Lutvak told Axios via email.
- "We're going to meet state requirements while protecting what's so special about our neighborhoods and our city."
The big picture: A network of neighborhood groups and small businesses sued the city in January to block the family zoning plan, arguing it was approved without a legally required environmental review.
- That lawsuit argues that it could replace rent-controlled homes with luxury units, threaten longtime small businesses and allow for building heights and densities that were never fully studied.