On Wednesday, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee mandated a citywide goal of 5,000 new homes built every year, asking all city agencies with a hand in permitting to cut average wait times in half to facilitate more construction.
Although the city produced more housing annually in recent years (the average over the past 30 years is a mere 1,900 units/year), output has declined as of late.
The U.S. Census estimates, released two weeks ago, report that the city added only 2,600 new units of housing between 2015 and 2016. The year before, San Francisco added 3,500 new homes, itself down from 5,500 the previous year
“The mistakes of the past must not be repeated,” said Lee his executive directive titled “Keeping Up the Pace of Housing,” adding:
We have thrown up obstacle after obstacle to the creation of new housing in our City and failed to meet the demands of our growing workforce. [...] The time for excuses, delays and bureaucracy is over. [...] We must work on reducing entitlement times and ensure that building permits, subdivision maps and other post-entitlement permits are issued swiftly.
The mayor’s office created a new timetable for housing project approval. For example, buildings immune from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review should take no more than six months for approval. Housing that requires a full Environmental Impact Review (EIR) should take no longer than 18 months.
Overall, Lee mandates that no new housing should take more than 22 months for approval.
Though Lee may publicly set these goals and direct city staff to streamline the approval process—the order also mandates that 11 city agencies appoint new managers with the job of speeding up entitlements—legislative bodies like the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors will decide which projects get the green light and when.
In a press release, the mayor’s office cites two city supervisors, District 4’s Supervisor Katy Tang and District 11’s Ahsha Safaí, both praising the plan, with Safaí decrying the “decades of inaction and purposeful under-building that has only served the wealthiest.”
- Keeping Up On Housing [Mayor’s Office]
- Mayor Directs More Housing [Mayor’s Office]
- Census: SF Wealthier [Curbed SF]
Loading comments...