By Emily Hoeven – sfchronicle – excerpt
… An arcane city planning code provision prohibits more than five people from living together in the same “dwelling unit” — such as a single-family home or large apartment — unless they’re legally related family members or they function like a family, including by buying and eating all their meals together.
Six unrelated housemates living together in, say, a six-bedroom Victorian, is essentially outlawed….
San Francisco embraces co-living in places designated as group homes, such as “tech dorms,” tiny sleeping pods and single-room occupancy hotels. (Masimore’s building, which is attached to a church, used to be a rectory that housed the clergy.)
But until now, single-family homes and large apartments have been off-limits for these types of arrangements.
On Monday, Supervisor Bilal Mahmood plans to introduce legislation to change that, he shared with me exclusively.
The five-person limit is “arbitrary and difficult to enforce,” Mahmood told me, adding that it’s also “antithetical to San Francisco values” by creating a distinction between related family and chosen family. Furthermore, Mahmood said, “It doesn’t even reflect our range of housing needs.” …
By focusing on lease agreements, rather than individuals, Mahmood’s bill doesn’t limit the number of people who can live in a dwelling unit. (He’s setting the maximum number of lease agreements at nine to avoid interfering with another part of the city code that requires any building with 10 or more units to pay inclusionary housing fees.) .
Fixing San Francisco’s codes gets complicated quickly, but Mahmood’s legislation could prove to be an innovative solution to help the city’s housing crisis. … (more)