News – Page 6 – Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods

September 9, 2025September 9, 2025

Can S.F. Mayor Daniel Lurie’s ‘family zoning’ plan survive political backlash?

By J.D. Morris, J.K. Dineen, sfchronicle – excerpt

One of many signs popping up in windows around the city as the plan is the “Family housing Plan” is introduced.

As his sweeping plan to allow 36,000 new homes in San Francisco advances, Mayor Daniel Lurie faces a difficult question: Can he usher in a seismic shift in local land-use rules without triggering massive political backlash?

The answer won’t be known for months, but an inflection point will arrive Thursday, when the planning commission takes up what Lurie calls his “family zoning” plan. It’s a far-reaching proposal that seeks to expand the city’s housing supply by allowing taller residential buildings from Fisherman’s Wharf to the west edges of the Richmond and Sunset districts.

Commissioners are expected to approve the plan, but they don’t have the final word. The plan will be taken up next by the Board of Supervisors, where some members are pushing for changes amid an outcry from critics who fear the rezoning would lead to the displacement of small businesses and allow rent-controlled housing and historic buildings to be demolished.

Lurie will have to balance competing interests as he works to ensure supervisors approve the plan by a state-mandated January deadline.

San Francisco is legally required to permit 82,000 new homes by 2031, though it will take far longer for all those units to get built. More than half the total will come from development that’s already approved; the remainder would come from the zoning plan. The stakes are high: If San Francisco doesn’t show it’s making a good-faith effort toward meeting the 82,000-home goal, the state will take control of the city’s housing approval process.

While Lurie tries to avoid a state takeover on housing, he must also grapple with political considerations…

A coalition representing organizations with concerns about the plan met with Lurie last week and sent him a letter afterward saying that the rezoning “risks fueling speculation, inflating land costs, driving demolitions, and making it harder for mission‑driven developers to build.”…

Separately, small business leaders have signed onto another letter to Lurie warning that the plan could “force closures of businesses that have served San Francisco for generations.” That letter asked the mayor to work with neighborhood groups to identify locations for denser development “without destroying existing corridors.”

At a news conference last week, Lurie told reporters that his administration was “always happy to discuss” the plan with critics. He promised to “work tirelessly to protect our small businesses,” and his planning director, Sarah Dennis Phillips, said the administration was receptive to “helpful modifications” embraced by the San Francisco Small Business Commission…

Dennis Phillips also said the mayor was working with Supervisor Chyanne Chen on legislation to strengthen protections for tenants whose homes may be torn down...

Mandelman said he wants Lurie’s administration to commit to a plan for preserving some of the city’s older buildings, either by creating new historic districts or designating individual landmarks…

Some of the same people pushing for the recall are also outraged about Lurie’s zoning plan — a fact that may weigh on the mayor if he is tasked with appointing a replacement for Engardio…(more)

September 2, 2025September 2, 2025

What you should know about the Upzoning

If you live in SF, or in the state of California you have probably heard something about Upzoing plans. If you are confused about the maps and the plans, you are not alone. See the September meetings listed on the calendar for where you may go to learn more: https://csfn.net/csfn-events/

People who try to follow it are constantly finding themselves running down another rabbit hole that leads back to Sacramento and our most controversial State Senator Wiener. After Wiener and Newsom removed the authority of the California Coastal Coastal Commission to control development on the California coast, Wiener is pushing SB 79 to remove single family zoning from the entire state. See the map below that attempts to illustrate the effects of SB 79 on the SF Zoning map

This iMap is supposed to indicate he targeted areas for SB 79

Wieners enemies may outweigh his friends, but his friends hold a huge, powerful purse and they are shifting him toward Washington. Some would like to see him go just to get him out of Sacramento, but others want him permanently out of politics. Given his close ties to the most unpopular SF Supervisor in SF, and the disdain hundreds of cities and communities around the state have for him, Scott may need more than money to win the Washington post he covets. But we are here to look a the maps.

The SF Planning Department has created many maps and overlays and new ones are popping up all the time. Everyone appears to be confused.

The below map that indicates where density decontrol may be applied is perhaps the most disturbing as it covers the entire city, including those neighborhoods that were already up zoned in the Eastern Neighborhoods.
Density decontrol is a new term that applies to the minimum size of a unit. It appears there is no minimum requirement where destiny decontrol is applied.

We understand the height limits along the pink areas are also open to density decontrol.

Given all the various maps and re-zoning at the state and local levels, the one question no one can answer is, how do all the state and local density laws affect each other? Can developers apply state density bonuses on top of city height limit increases? No one seems to know the answer.

Find out more by attending one of the September meetings where discussion will be held and SF Planning explains the plans and the public gets to ask what is means to them.

August 31, 2025August 31, 2025

High Drama at Bayview Opera House

By John Crabtree : substack (excerpt)

Supervisor Joel Engardio loses again, but by the narrowest of margins at SF DCCC

It had all the makings of a grand political soap opera, when the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee gathered for their monthly meeting at the Ruth Williams Bayview Opera House on Wednesday night. The true excitement, the high at the old Opera House, was down the agenda a bit at #7 and innocuously labeled — 7. Endorsement of Local Measures for the September 16, District 4 Special Election.

That is, of course, the matter of the recall of Supervisor Joel Engardio. After hours of public testimony and a lengthier that usual debate among the DCCC members, a vote on whether or not to endorse the special recall election, the body ended up deadlocked 11 to 11 and the San Francisco Democratic Party officially took no position.

Now that may not sound like high drama, but it was. Most political observers expected the county Democratic Party, which is dominated by political moderates and conservatives, to side with Engardio. Without a doubt Engardio and his campaign were counting on it. And the Recallers spared no effort to keep the party on the sidelines, as many of them who testified said, “let The Sunset decide” or some variation on that theme…

“Time and again, candidates in the city have come to the Chinese community when they need votes. They come when they need campaign volunteers. They come when they want to win. But when it comes to policy, when it comes to listening to our concerns and our voices, too often we are ignored.”

Wilson Chu, Chinese American Democratic Club, in support of Engardio Recall…

… I believe this recall is more justified than earlier ones. As so many have stated this evening and over the past year, Supervisor Engardio misled voters about one of the most contentious issues in our district, presenting one position in order to get elected and then reversing himself once in office. Not only that but he then led the effort to put a citywide measure on the ballot, without input from the constituents he had misled. And while much of his campaign for Supervisor was built on fueling the divisiveness and anger around the 2022 recalls, he now argues that he shouldn’t be subject to similar anger when it comes to neighborhood street issues. That contradiction has not gone unnoticed in our community.”

Gordon Mar, DCCC member and former District 4 Supervisor…

Below the screenshot of Engardio’s voter intimidation video I have shared excerpts from California DOJ Division of Law Enforcement Bulletin #2024-DLE-11. I share it because I think it is important to understand what violations of these laws can mean.

…(more)

Could this be a case of a desperate man who will stoop at nothing to save his career? Or is he just not very smart enough to follow campaign laws? Either way, he is winning a prize for the most egregious politician. He should lay off the nasty.

August 20, 2025

Stop Upzoning. Join the State wide protest August 23 at City Hall at 11 AM.

August 20, 2025August 20, 2025

The next steps if Joel Engardio is — or isn’t — recalled

By Adam Shanks : sfexaminer – excerpt (audio)

The Great Highway with cars had a clear clean island of plants separating the modes. Widely spaced cross walks provided safe passing for pedestrians.

Sunset and Parkside residents will now decide the political fate of San Francisco Supervisor Joel Engardio.

Voting by mail and in person has begun for the Sept. 16 recall election of Engardio, who was elected to a first term representing District 4 in 2022 but has faced criticism for his support of Proposition K, a 2024 ballot measure that closed part of Great Highway to cars.

Though the recall debate and campaign have centered on Engardio’s actions in office that have led to this point, here we discuss what will happen if Engardio is — or is not — recalled by his constituents next month.

The first results will be posted on Election Day on Sept. 16, although the numbers will continue to be updated in the following days as mail-in ballots trickle in. The election must be certified by Oct. 16.

Here’s what you need to know about next month’s election, and what might come next month… (more)

August 11, 2025August 11, 2025

New SF economic and workforce head predicts brighter times

By Patrick Hoge : sfexaminer – excerpt (audio)

Anne Taupier, the new executive director of San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development: “We want to be a partner with our businesses and with our citizens and with everyone who wants to be doing business in San Francisco.”…

Anne Taupier said she feels fortunate — not just to have been named the new executive director of San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, but because she’s been given the job at this moment in history, as she believes The City is heading into a brighter future.

“I really do feel this energy and excitement,” said Taupier, the agency’s former director of development, who was appointed in mid-June to the top job by Mayor Daniel Lurie. “I feel like I’m lucky, because I am stepping into this role when you can feel that change in the air.”

Taupier’s optimism comes despite a decrease of millions of dollars to her agency’s budget in the recently adopted two-year city budget that closed a deficit of about $800 million, and a downtown that among other things has been grappling with high office-vacancy rates since the COVID-19 pandemic that stood at 34.8% in the second quarter, according to the real-estate firm CBRE…

In 2009, Taupier joined the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, where she worked on real estate, and she was appointed director of development in 2020 to oversee large projects, including the Treasure Island, Stonestown Galleria and Potrero Power Station developments, among others. She also worked on housing and development policies on behalf of the Mayor’s Office.

Taupier succeeds Sarah Dennis Phillips, whose appointment to be The City’s planning director was announced at the same time as Taupier’s move within OEWD.

The agency Taupier now leads has 151 budgeted full-time employees in multiple divisions, including a business-development team that works to attract and retain companies, and another that focuses on supporting neighborhood commercial corridors. Its biggest division — the workforce development unit — performs various tasks that include working with organizations that provide job training and placement services.

The agency’s budget declined by $54.9 million in the fiscal-year 2025–26 budget. About $26 million of that decrease is due to the transfer of community-ambassador programs to the Department of Emergency Management, which now provides oversight for certain city-funded community-safety ambassadors in neighborhoods that include Mid-Market, the Tenderloin and the Mission…(more)

Apparently the priority is to build the economy rather than protect the residents and businesses. We suspect there are a few places that $26 million could come from for the neighborhoods who want to keep their ambassadors. If we believe the AI media, the estimated pay range for a Community Ambassador at City and County of San Francisco is $21–$32 per hour, which includes base salary and additional pay. A lot less than most city employees, yet they are the first to go.

Why does the government keep piling on improvements that destroy the programs people like and support? Will someone please figure this out and stop the practice?

July 30, 2025August 1, 2025

The looming threat to hundreds of small businesses in San Francisco

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

Almost a third of all the small businesses in the city’s neighborhood commercial districts could face displacement under Mayor Daniel Lurie’s plan to allow more and denser housing in neighborhoods, data from the City Planning Department shows.

In some neighborhoods—the Geary corridor, for example—nearly half the small local merchants are endangered, the data shows.

That’s because the so-called “family housing” plan would encourage developers to demolish small buildings to put up larger ones—and many of those small buildings have small commercial tenants.

City planners tell me that they will discourage the demolition of existing rent-controlled housing (although SB 79) a bill by Sen. Scott Wiener would encourage that practice.)

But 1,769 small businesses are in vulnerable places (sites that are prime for new development where there are no existing residential units)—and 47 are officially recognized “legacy businesses.”

As the planning report notes:.. (more)

The Small Business Commissioners agreed at their meeting on Monday. They took no action, pending plans to talk to neighborhood merchants and consider legislative remedies. They do not fee that any of the current Board of Supervisors are working on anything of substance yet. (July 28, 25 meeting)

July 24, 2025July 24, 2025

Just a few cops cover San Francisco’s largest police district

By Junyao Yang : missionlocal – excerpt

Taraval Police Station, located at 2345 24th Avenue, covers the largest and most populous police district in the city.

Taraval Station, situated in a red-brick building on 24th Avenue in the Sunset, covers the most populous and largest geographic area in San Francisco.

The sprawling police district runs from Golden Gate Park in the north to the San Mateo County line, and from Ocean Beach to Seventh Avenue. It is home to more than 153,000 residents, or 17.5 percent of San Francisco’s population. At 10.8 square miles, it is 66 percent bigger than the next-largest police district, Ingleside (6.5 square miles).

But it has 43 fewer officers than Ingleside, and residents are complaining. It has more property crimes than the Ingleside and Bayview Districts, and the longest response times for high-priority 911 calls…

As of July 17, there were 51 sworn officers at Taraval Station, according to its acting captain, Anthony Ravano. The recommended staffing level for that station is 120 officers, a 2023 SFPD staffing analysis report shows. …

Taraval Police District, the largest in the city, has the longest response time to high priority calls…

For now, as long as the station doesn’t have enough officers, Corriea said, “community policing” ends up being a lofty goal and little more.

“It’s like smearing peanut butter on a piece of bread,” Corriea said. “If you have a lot of peanut butter, it’s thick. If you don’t, it’s thin.”…(more)

July 11, 2025July 11, 2025

S.F. IS FINALLY CULLING COMMISSIONS, BUT THE FIRST CUT ONLY TARGETS ‘INACTIVE’ BODIES

by KELLY WALDRON : missionlocal – excerpt

“The Task Force Desparately wants the {public to get Involved…”

Eight months after dueling ballot measures promised to take a hard look at San Francisco’s 149 city commissions, it’s happening: Next week, a newly convened task force will vote on whether to eliminate 34 bodies that are currently inactive, the first step in a long streamlining process.

“Obviously we want to do the easy ones first, then we’ll tackle the other groups piece by piece,” said Jean Fraser, vice chair of the Commission Streamlining Task Force, which was formed after voters approved Proposition E on Nov. 5, 2024.

The Advisory Council on Human Rights is slated to be cut; its last known meeting date was more than 15 years ago. Others to be eliminated from the city’s code include the Graffiti Oversight Board, the Delinquency Prevention Commission and the Industrial Waste Review Board. Thirty-two of the 34 inactive bodies have not met in the last year…

If 34 are eliminated next week, the Prop. E task force will have 115 advisory boards, committees, councils, commissions and other bodies left to review. All are generally tasked with overseeing department decisions or collecting public input about department decisions.

The task force largely consists of City Hall veterans: Harrington, who was also on the Prop. E campaign and appointed to the body by the measure’s chief proponent; former Supervisor Aaron Peskin; Sophie Hayward from the City Administrator’s Office; Natasha Mihal from the Controller’s Office; and Andrea Bruss from the City Attorney’s Office…(more)

Please consider how some of the Neighborhood groups might be able to participate in the process. This is the first we have heard about this.

Thanks for letting us know the Task Force that is cutting commissions etc. wants public input. That is sort a vague bit of information. What kind of help and engagement do they want? And how do they want the public to be involved? Are they looking for a lot of emailed suggestions or do they want to reach out to neighborhood groups, or professionals or what exactly do they want from the public. We look forward to hearing more.