Residents sue San Francisco for overriding TOD law

San Francisco housing advocates are suing both the city and the state of California for overriding a bill intended to increase housing supply. 

On July 1, California Senate Bill 79, titled the Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act, took effect to override local zoning limitations and allow greater heights and densities for residential development near transit stops. In response, San Francisco issued a local ordinance permanently excluding nearly 1,900 parcels in parts of its SoMa, Bayview and Bayshore neighborhoods from the bill, arguing that they are primarily industrial, a move California housing officials approved. 

Now residents are suing both the city and the state, arguing the move was illegal. 

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the bill provides narrow exemptions for land that is already zoned to prohibit housing, something the lawsuit claims San Francisco has never done. 

"One argument for exempting parts of SoMa from SB 79 is that the neighborhood has already absorbed a disproportionate share of San Francisco’s recent housing growth — the state law would concentrate even more development in the same parts of San Francisco, particularly given the Muni routes that would otherwise make them prime targets for additional housing," Laura Waxmann writes for the Chronicle. 

"The housing groups argue that is the exact reason why SoMa, where much of the city’s supportive and affordable housing stock is located, shouldn’t be exempt, given that the area includes parcels where housing is permitted. They described SoMa’s designation as an employment hub as a particularly 'egregious example of the city flouting state law.'"

Full story below.