Supes demand housing in Haight; Breed balks

By Adam Shanks : sfexaminer – excerpt

The struggle over homeless services in The Haight will continue.

A new law will require The City to locate 20 units of temporary housing for young adults facing homelessness in the neighborhood — but it seems unlikely to ever actually happen.

Mayor London Breed will decline to sign the law, to which the Board of Supervisors gave final approval this month, her office confirmed to The Examiner. Nevertheless, the law will still take effect. It passed with unanimous support from the Board of Supervisors, rendering Breed’s veto power meaningless. Still, her refusal to sign is a signal she does not support the bill…

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing reviewed Preston’s legislation in a May report and estimated that it would cost between $5.7 million to $9 million to purchase 20 new units of housing. The cost of actually operating a 20-bed shelter was estimated to be between $715,000 to $860,000 per year.

The City has $58.4 million left in its Our City, Our home fund earmarked for transition-age-youth housing, but spending it on shelter — including the transitional shelter stipulated in Preston’s legislation — is not allowed without a tweak to city law, according to HSH.

The City’s Real Estate Division looked in the neighborhood and did not find a single appropriate building for sale. Eleven were available for lease, but none of those were an entire building…(more)