San Francisco removes minimum parking requirements citywide
On December 21, the Mayor signed Supervisor Jane Kim’s ordinance eliminating minimum parking requirements citywide. The ordinance goes into effect on January 20. In October, the City’s Planning Commission unanimously recommended removing citywide parking requirements as part of their review of legislation to limit new driveways along the City’s most important transit, walking, and cycling…
Planning Commission Endorses Citywide Accessory Unit Legalization
Three ordinances to legalize accessory units (also known as in-law units) citywide were approved by the Planning Commission this week. Two would allow new housing units in existing buildings citywide. The third would facilitate the legalization of existing units originally built without permits. On Thursday June 16, the Planning Commission recommended two ordinances that would permit new in-law units in existing buildings…
2015 in Review: The Year in Livability
San Francisco faced big challenges with equity and affordability in 2015. Still, the city made major progress by building and preserving affordable housing, planning better neighborhoods, reclaiming streets for people, making room for nature, lessening automobile dependence, and fostering a shift towards sustainable transportation. Let’s take a look at the year in livability: San Francisco’s Voice for…
Supervisors Support New Accessory Units in More SF Neighborhoods
San Francisco’s growing acceptance of accessory units – new units in existing buildings – reached another milestone this week as two ordinances permitting new units within existing buildings were unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors on first reading. Supervisor Wiener’s ordinance permitted new units in his Supervisorial District (District 8), which includes the Castro, Mission Dolores,…
Planning for a Better City
For many decades, transportation planning in San Francisco was focused almost entirely on the automobile, and walking, cycling, and public transit were marginalized. We need to put sustainable modes at the center of our transportation plans, and replace “predict and provide” models of traffic and parking planning with ones that take into account the potential…
Preserve Existing Rental Housing
This post appeared in the SF Bay Guardian in January 14. San Francisco’s housing affordability crisis has become the main threat to the livability of the city for hundreds of thousands of residents. One glimmer of hope came last month, as the Board of Supervisors reformed decades-old laws that permit, and often encourage, the loss…
SF Supervisors Approve Ordinances Protecting Residential Units
A pair of ordinances, one strengthening the Planning Code’s provisions for conversion, demolition, and merger of residential units, and the other permitting improvement and enlargement of some existing units, were unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors in December. The ordinances, were based on Livable City proposals, were sponsored by Supervisor John Avalos. The Housing Element…
