News – Page 4 – Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods

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 25, 2025

Problems with SB 79 after Amendments

SB 79 still does not provide for enough affordable housing.
SB 79 will reduce affordable housing by allowing older, naturally affordable buildings to be replaced by largely market-rate buildings.
Local control of affordable inclusionary housing in SB 79 projects is a red herring – HCD severely limits this “option”. Local inclusionary built under
SB 79 should override any limitations by state administrative agencies.
SB 79 is a major state override of local control. – overrides the state approved housing element and mandates unneeded density in inappropriate places.
The bill is misleading by offering local control through allowing alternate plans by localities. – Any such plan still requires inappropriate density, overrides the state approved housing element, and requires approval of HCD.
Bus routes are an inappropriate basis for rezoning property. Routes can change or be manipulated in weeks. The housing built under SB 79 will be permanent.
SB 79 needs a 5 year sunset clause.

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 16, 2025August 16, 2025

‘Take your concert and go f*** yourselves’: Park neighbors lose it after weeks of chaos

By George Kelly and Tomoki Chien : sfstandard – excerpt

The Richmond has had it.

After four consecutive weekends of major events that cumulatively will bring half a million people to Golden Gate Park, neighborhood residents are reeling from the impact of crowds, noise, trash, drunken foolery, and traffic disruptions that have transformed their neighborhood into a nonstop bacchanal.

The surge of large-scale events began in late July with the San Francisco Marathon and continued through three days of Dead & Company performances, three more for the Outside Lands Music Festival, and one last large-scale concert Friday, with legions making their way to and from Golden Gate Park through the Richmond.

Of course, when hundreds of thousands of revelers pour into a typically sleepy district, there are bound to be tensions — and complaints.

“Take your Outside fucking Lands and go fuck yourselves,” said one rant submitted to San Francisco’s 311 system. “Take your fucking Grateful Dead concert and go fuck yourselves. Take your Golden Gate Park concert and go fuck yourselves. This is a RESIDENTIAL neighborhood.”

In the nearly 100 submissions logged with 311, residents reported pee bottles on the street (including a photo), cars blocking their driveways, smoking concertgoers, and trash on the sidewalks. Mostly, though, callers complained about the “insufferably loud” thumps of bass.

Residents have long complained about noise at Outside Lands. In 2019, two peace-loving San Franciscans filed a California Environmental Quality Act appeal in an attempt to bar the city from renewing the festival’s permit.

This year, neighbors took to Nextdoor to air grievances, calling on residents to bring their gripes directly to Supervisor Connie Chan, who represents the Richmond…(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)