YIMBYs Press Lurie on SF Zoning

San Francisco YIMBYs have cranked up the heat under newly elected Mayor Daniel Lurie.

The pro-development, yes-in-my-backyard folks are advocating for the Levi Strauss heir to urge home building ahead of an updated state-mandated rezoning plan for more than 82,000 homes by 2031, the San Francisco Standard reported.

A new version of the plan is set to drop this spring. The city must send it to Sacramento by year’s end.

Pushing back are the neighborhood preservationists and anti-displacement activists who have called for protecting historic neighborhoods, while tamping down height limits.

Jane Natoli, San Francisco organizing director for YIMBY Action, said if rezoning occurs, it would happen when Lurie’s first term ends. Natoli said she and other YIMBY members are pushing for more density along Van Ness Avenue, stretches of Geary Boulevard, west of Masonic Avenue and elsewhere.

“Do you really want to be rezoning again in two years if you’re running for reelection?” she asked. “Do you want to have this conversation again in a couple of years or not?”

The debate could mark a political litmus test for Lurie, who voiced support for housing in the run-up to the November election, but said little about the rezoning plan since, according to the Standard. Pro-housing advocates have flagged political liabilities for the mayor should he decide to seek a second term.

Ned Segal, Lurie’s housing and economic development policy chief, warned the mayor in a Jan. 31 meeting memo that “YIMBY groups now warn of legal and political risks of a too-timid approach in the rezoning currently underway.”

The memo explains that the city must issue permits for 29,049 housing units by 2027; the clock started ticking in 2023. If the city doesn’t meet that goal, it could be forced to commit to more rezoning.

“A decision does not need to be made in this [Jan. 31] meeting but in the near future the planning department will need direction from YOUR office,” the memo states.

It doesn’t appear the city will meet that target: San Francisco has issued permits for 4,307 housing units since 2023, according to the Planning Department.

This month, the mayor announced a task force to speed up the permitting system — but the high cost of materials and labor have made it extremely difficult to build anything in the city, according to Corey Smith, executive director of the Housing Action Coalition.

“Nobody is applying to build housing projects right now,” Smith told the Standard. “When they pencil it out, they lose money. Investors are not about losing money.”

The city could avoid retriggering a rezoning if the plans now under development add more housing units than state law requires, according to Chris Elmendorf, an expert on housing policy at University of California Davis.

— Dana Bartholomew