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"content": "\u003cp>Bay Area consumer advocates are sounding alarms after the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/donald-trump\">Trump administration\u003c/a> this month fired the entire staff running a federal program that helps low-income Americans afford to heat and cool their homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) distributes federal funds to help \u003ca href=\"https://www.csd.ca.gov/pages/liheapprogram.aspx\">households with their energy needs\u003c/a> through services such as providing one-time financial assistance to pay bills, offering emergency help when utilities are disconnected or upgrading homes to make them more energy-efficient.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States use the federal funding to provide those services, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.caliheapapply.com/\">California’s LIHEAP application\u003c/a> warns that executive orders affecting LIHEAP’s “operations and program funding” have left such assistance uncertain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We encourage you to apply for LIHEAP, but we cannot guarantee a payment assistance benefit, even if you are approved,” the application reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The uncertainty comes after around \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/01/g-s1-57716/hhs-layoffs-seniors-disabled-liheap-acl\">20 federal employees at the office overseeing LIHEAP\u003c/a> were laid off as part of wide-reaching staff cuts across the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034527/meals-on-wheels-child-welfare-hhs-staff-sf-woke-up-our-jobs-gone\">Department of Health and Human Services\u003c/a> in early April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Utility Reform Network (TURN), a consumer advocacy group based in Oakland, signed \u003ca href=\"https://www.nclc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2025.04.11_Letter_Rural-Power-Coalition_LIHEAP-Sign-on-Letter.pdf\">a letter with 220 other groups\u003c/a> last week demanding that Congress reinstate the laid-off federal employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If there’s no one working the program, then if you apply, there’s no one going to process that application,” said Lee Trotman, a spokesperson for TURN. “This is a crisis at the federal level. And it’s going to affect Californians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LIHEAP helps around \u003ca href=\"https://nlihc.org/resource/entire-liheap-staff-hhs-fired-jeopardizing-distribution-home-energy-bill-assistance-low\">6.2 million households across the country\u003c/a>, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12035735 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/internal-revenue-service_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such aid is especially helpful in Northern California, where the average PG&E \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033386/pge-electricity-rates-have-jumped-nearly-70-since-2020\">bill has gone up by 67% since 2020\u003c/a>. A March KQED analysis found that residential ratepayers now pay an average of about $300 a month for their combined gas and electric service, up from $179 in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A program like LIHEAP “basically lowers energy costs for low-income families and gives people breathing room to minimize trade-offs between their energy needs and food, stable housing or medicine,” Trotman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter notes that the Department of Health and Human Services still has $378 million of LIHEAP funding for the fiscal year, which runs through September, and it is “unclear how or if these funds will be distributed” to states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the state, California has received over $215 million in LIHEAP funding so far this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LIHEAP is overseen by the California Department of Community Services and Development (CSD) and is administered by \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/account/billing-and-assistance/financial-assistance/low-income-home-energy-assistance-program.html\">31 agencies across the state\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CSD said in a statement to KQED that the department is “committed to understanding the implications of the announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding downsizing in the federal office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As of today, we are not experiencing any impacts to LIHEAP’s ability to provide benefits to low-income households. Our priority remains to ensure all Californians continue to receive uninterrupted access to essential LIHEAP services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What can you do if you need help with energy bills?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Californians can still \u003ca href=\"https://www.caliheapapply.com/\">apply for LIHEAP online\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Generally, \u003ca href=\"https://www.csd.ca.gov/Pages/LIHEAP-Income-Eligibility.aspx\">eligibility for LIHEAP is based on your household’s income\u003c/a> as follows:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>$3,170.00 monthly income for a household of 1\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$4,145.41 monthly income for a household of 2\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$6,096.25 monthly income for a household of 4.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>However, eligibility can be affected by other factors like the source of your household’s income, and CSD recommends applicants reach out to their service providers for more information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12035871 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/012-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trotman said that households may be able to enroll in both LIHEAP and their utility provider’s own discount program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Federal funding for LIHEAP is limited, and local LIHEAP service providers prioritize benefits and services for particularly vulnerable households,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.csd.ca.gov/pages/liheapprogram.aspx\">the state’s website\u003c/a> reads. “As a result, some households eligible for LIHEAP may not qualify for a benefit in order to prioritize assistance for households with the greatest need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trotman said applicants should apply for PG&E’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/account/billing-and-assistance/financial-assistance/california-alternate-rates-for-energy-program.html\">California Alternate Rates for Energy program\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/account/billing-and-assistance/financial-assistance/family-electric-rate-assistance-program-fera.html\">Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11972887/pge-rates-are-way-up-do-you-qualify-for-a-discount\">Read more about these discount guides provided by PG&E\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023805/pge-bills-keep-rising-what-can-you-do-to-potentially-lower-your-bills\">practical steps you can take to potentially save energy at home\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also consult the California Public Utility Commission’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/consumer-support/financial-assistance-savings-and-discounts\">listing options for finding more financial assistance and discounts\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such aid is especially helpful in Northern California, where the average PG&E \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033386/pge-electricity-rates-have-jumped-nearly-70-since-2020\">bill has gone up by 67% since 2020\u003c/a>. A March KQED analysis found that residential ratepayers now pay an average of about $300 a month for their combined gas and electric service, up from $179 in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A program like LIHEAP “basically lowers energy costs for low-income families and gives people breathing room to minimize trade-offs between their energy needs and food, stable housing or medicine,” Trotman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter notes that the Department of Health and Human Services still has $378 million of LIHEAP funding for the fiscal year, which runs through September, and it is “unclear how or if these funds will be distributed” to states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the state, California has received over $215 million in LIHEAP funding so far this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LIHEAP is overseen by the California Department of Community Services and Development (CSD) and is administered by \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/account/billing-and-assistance/financial-assistance/low-income-home-energy-assistance-program.html\">31 agencies across the state\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CSD said in a statement to KQED that the department is “committed to understanding the implications of the announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding downsizing in the federal office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As of today, we are not experiencing any impacts to LIHEAP’s ability to provide benefits to low-income households. Our priority remains to ensure all Californians continue to receive uninterrupted access to essential LIHEAP services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What can you do if you need help with energy bills?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Californians can still \u003ca href=\"https://www.caliheapapply.com/\">apply for LIHEAP online\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Generally, \u003ca href=\"https://www.csd.ca.gov/Pages/LIHEAP-Income-Eligibility.aspx\">eligibility for LIHEAP is based on your household’s income\u003c/a> as follows:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>$3,170.00 monthly income for a household of 1\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$4,145.41 monthly income for a household of 2\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>$6,096.25 monthly income for a household of 4.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>However, eligibility can be affected by other factors like the source of your household’s income, and CSD recommends applicants reach out to their service providers for more information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trotman said that households may be able to enroll in both LIHEAP and their utility provider’s own discount program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Federal funding for LIHEAP is limited, and local LIHEAP service providers prioritize benefits and services for particularly vulnerable households,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.csd.ca.gov/pages/liheapprogram.aspx\">the state’s website\u003c/a> reads. “As a result, some households eligible for LIHEAP may not qualify for a benefit in order to prioritize assistance for households with the greatest need.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trotman said applicants should apply for PG&E’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/account/billing-and-assistance/financial-assistance/california-alternate-rates-for-energy-program.html\">California Alternate Rates for Energy program\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.pge.com/en/account/billing-and-assistance/financial-assistance/family-electric-rate-assistance-program-fera.html\">Family Electric Rate Assistance (FERA) program\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11972887/pge-rates-are-way-up-do-you-qualify-for-a-discount\">Read more about these discount guides provided by PG&E\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12023805/pge-bills-keep-rising-what-can-you-do-to-potentially-lower-your-bills\">practical steps you can take to potentially save energy at home\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also consult the California Public Utility Commission’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/consumer-support/financial-assistance-savings-and-discounts\">listing options for finding more financial assistance and discounts\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "SF’s Single-Family Home Neighborhoods Could See More Apartments, 65-Story Towers Near Downtown",
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"headTitle": "SF’s Single-Family Home Neighborhoods Could See More Apartments, 65-Story Towers Near Downtown | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco officials want to make way for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992758/after-missing-housing-goals-sf-has-permit-process-slashed-under-new-state-law\">more housing\u003c/a>. Where to put it? In quiet neighborhoods on the west side, historically known for single-family homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Thursday, the city’s planning department will release details of a preliminary proposal to allow mid-rise apartment buildings, up to eight stories tall, along major streets in the Richmond and Sunset districts, along with some other neighborhoods in the northwestern part of the city. It’s also proposing to allow buildings up to 65 stories tall along certain major corridors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department will host an \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/planning-commission\">informational \u003c/a>hearing about the plan, \u003ca href=\"https://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/player/camera/50?publish_id=1783&redirect=true\">which will be livestreamed\u003c/a>, on April 10.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, city officials \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/project/expanding-housing-choice\">concentrated\u003c/a> housing development on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/news/2025-03-19/why-and-where-san-francisco-needs-allow-more-homes-housing-element-primer\">southeast side\u003c/a> of San Francisco, including the Mission District, South of Market and the Dogpatch, which \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanninggis.org/pim/map/?search=3574009&layers=Height%20and%20Bulk%20Districts\">allow for taller buildings.\u003c/a> Meanwhile, large swaths of the Sunset, Richmond, Marina and Pacific Heights neighborhoods currently only allow for buildings \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanninggis.org/pim/map/?search=3574009&layers=Height%20and%20Bulk%20Districts\">up to four stories tall\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As San Francisco faces pressure from the state to \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/project/housing-element-update-2022\">plan for more than 82,000 new apartments\u003c/a> by 2031, city officials are considering \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/project/expanding-housing-choice\">opening these northern and western neighborhoods\u003c/a> to apartments six to \u003ca href=\"https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/6e0e399f9c82456dbda233eacebc433d/\">eight stories tall along major streets\u003c/a>, with some large boulevards, such as Geary Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue, going up to 65 stories tall near the city’s downtown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033009\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12033009 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-15-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-15-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-15-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-15-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-15-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-15-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-15-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pedestrians cross the street in San Francisco’s Sunset District on March 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, who represents several of the neighborhoods proposed to be rezoned, said the changes could help bring activity back to \u003ca href=\"https://time.com/7086165/san-francisco-economic-recovery/\">once-lively areas\u003c/a> of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Post-pandemic, San Francisco has not rebounded in the way that other cities have, and we have an opportunity to really thoughtfully increase vibrancy in certain areas of the city,” Sherrill said. “By doing that with residents, we can be really effective in planning for the long-term future of the city that stays true with San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the city’s Principal Planner, Lisa Chen, the decision to add more apartments to the west side is thanks to a state mandate requiring the city to direct new development to well-resourced neighborhoods. People living in the \u003ca href=\"https://belonging.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/external_pages/unpacked/11484/index.html?t=1743463757#faq\">northern and western neighborhoods\u003c/a> have some of the highest incomes, home values, employment rates and better educational attainment rates than their eastern counterparts.[aside postID=news_12017695 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/IMG_3372_qed-1020x680.jpg']Chen said that if the city were to plan for housing in those areas, the people eventually living there would have access to better resources, such as public transit, parks, high-performing public schools, retail, and community facilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reality is that we have already rezoned many parts of the southern and eastern neighborhoods,” Chen said. “While we can continue to look for more opportunities to add housing in those areas, the state is requiring that the emphasis of this rezoning and the majority of units be placed in the well-resourced neighborhoods.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This can be done sensitively, said San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, by focusing development along major corridors in the western and northern parts of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think people are going to continue to want to work here and live here,” he said. “I think we do need to try as best we can to accommodate that. And I think we can do it without destroying what we love about San Francisco. I think we can balance those things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the plan is receiving mixed reactions from residents, some who want more activity in their suburban-style neighborhoods and others who worry it could displace vulnerable renters and small businesses if the properties they occupy are redeveloped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033008\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033008\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-13-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-13-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-13-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-13-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-13-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-13-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-13-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Houses line a street in San Francisco’s Sunset District on March 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I can see people being forced out of their homes, rent-controlled apartments and buildings being destroyed and luxury market-rate housing being built in its place,” said Don Misumi, a member of tenants’ rights group \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/richmonddistrictrising/\">Richmond District Rising\u003c/a>. “There’s not really much doubt in my mind unless things start to change and I see some concrete proposals that are going to provide tenant protections, that are going to provide protections for small businesses.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s planning department has \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/11v8sWadgj-MTMLTLRZEBF3wmLc6-ZUxL/view?usp=sharing\">already approved roughly 58,100 new apartments\u003c/a>, largely to be built in the eastern part of the city, that are awaiting construction. However, to reach the state’s goal of planning for more than 82,000 new units, the department is proposing that \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/sites/default/files/documents/citywide/housing-choice/RHNA-Primer.pdf\">some of the remaining homes\u003c/a> be built in the north and west sides.[aside postID=news_12018940 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/OceanTowerRendering2-1020x574.jpg']The city’s preliminary map proposes to \u003ca href=\"https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/6e0e399f9c82456dbda233eacebc433d/#data_s=id%3AdataSource_3-18d42c41053-layer-13%3A43743\">rezone commercial corridors\u003c/a>, including 19th Avenue, Geary Boulevard and Clement Street. The bulk of the proposed rezoning would stretch from Russian Hill to Parkside and could allow for taller buildings — up to 65 stories on certain commercial corridors — creating opportunities for thousands of new homes. The plan also includes increasing height limits in other neighborhoods throughout the city, including along Market Street in the Castro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After multiple informational hearings where residents can offer comments and voice concerns, the proposal will go to the planning commission, where it could be amended or changed. It will ultimately have to go before the Board of Supervisors before the end of January 2026, when the city faces a state-mandated deadline to approve a rezoning plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it misses that deadline, \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/project/expanding-housing-choice#faqs\">it could lose\u003c/a> state funding for affordable housing and public transportation, risk lawsuits, fines and be subject to the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11945744/california-building-boom-a-new-law-promised-big-but-has-yet-to-deliver-in-the-bay-area\"> builder’s remedy\u003c/a>, a mechanism that allows developers to circumvent local building rules if the city is out of compliance with state housing law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The process for our rezoning is a bit of a fait accompli — we already agreed to this,” said Jane Natoli, San Francisco Organizing Director for the pro-housing lobbying group, YIMBY Action. “All we’re trying to do is honor the commitments we told the state we were going to do, at the end of the day, to build the housing we need for San Franciscans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>From sand dunes to suburban homes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s decision to rezone the western part of the city marks a break from the area’s historically low-density character. Western neighborhoods were some of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.outsidelands.org/richmond_arch.php\">last parts\u003c/a> of the city to be developed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the mid-to-late 1800s, \u003ca href=\"https://www.outsidelands.org/sunset.php#:~:text=The%201894%20California%20Midwinter%20International,a%20sea%20of%20stucco%20homes\">the Inner Sunset\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.outsidelands.org/richmond_arch.php\">Richmond districts\u003c/a> were home to a handful of dairies, ranches, a chicken farm — even a dynamite factory — while the Outer Sunset stretched out in a yawning sprawl of sand dunes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033006\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033006\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the Sunset District and Ocean Beach in San Francisco on March 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the aftermath of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/earthquakes/san-francisco\">devastating 1906 earthquake\u003c/a>, refugee camps sprang up on the city’s underdeveloped western side. Woody LaBounty’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.outsidelands.org/sw17.php\">great-grandparents even met at one of those camps\u003c/a> in the Richmond area, he said. The lifelong Richmond resident and president of the preservationist organization San Francisco Heritage said tract houses soon began popping up atop sand dunes to replace the temporary camps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After World War II, most of the Sunset and Richmond districts had been developed into suburban-style neighborhoods with single-family homes, LaBounty said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have a yard for your family to play in, you have multiple bedrooms, you’ve got your own sort of little plot — your little estate,” he said, “even if it’s a 25-by-100-foot lot in the Sunset District.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s for that same reason why many westside residents enjoy this part of town today. Paola Soto said she moved to the Outer Sunset five years ago so she and her husband could raise their daughter in a rented single-family home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just loved the neighborhood and how family-oriented it is,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like part of the city, but you’re still in the city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Soto said there aren’t many amenities or small businesses to patronize on her block. She welcomes the rezoning if it could bring more business activity to her neighborhood but said taller buildings could mean losing “this kind of neighborhood vibe” that she likes.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Picking and choosing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While residents like Soto are hoping the rezoning could bring new small businesses to the Sunset and Richmond, existing business owners are concerned they will be forced out. Yoland Porrata, an esthetician and board member of nonprofit Small Business Forward, owns a skincare studio in the Lower Haight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, she is trying to work with the city to establish new protections against displacement for small business owners, even if they do not own the building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033010\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033010\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-16-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-16-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-16-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-16-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-16-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-16-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-16-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A bicyclist rides down the street in San Francisco’s Sunset District on March 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Do we have a right to return?” she asked. “We already have super vulnerable commercial leases that are not nice and tidy in the way that some of the residential leases are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with small business owners, tenants’ rights groups are equally concerned about the city’s plan. San Francisco offers a bevy of tenant protections, but local groups worry the rezoning might encourage landlords to pressure renters to move out or evict them unlawfully.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dyan Ruiz, a member of Race & Equity In All Planning Coalition, said her organization wants to make sure developers are following the city’s laws and that it can make sure tenants aren’t displaced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to increase the accountability and enforcement of existing laws and making sure that there aren’t gaps and loopholes that tenants are falling through,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LaBounty hopes the city can strike some kind of balance — allowing more housing while still retaining the neighborhoods’ quiet charm. Pointing out the coffee shop across the street from where he lives, he said he doesn’t want to see it go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You got a cafe, a dry cleaner and a bakery right in a row — everybody loves them, you know? Maybe don’t upzone those,” he said. “It feels to me like you could do some picking and choosing, and the neighborhood could totally help you with it too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades, city officials \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/project/expanding-housing-choice\">concentrated\u003c/a> housing development on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/news/2025-03-19/why-and-where-san-francisco-needs-allow-more-homes-housing-element-primer\">southeast side\u003c/a> of San Francisco, including the Mission District, South of Market and the Dogpatch, which \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanninggis.org/pim/map/?search=3574009&layers=Height%20and%20Bulk%20Districts\">allow for taller buildings.\u003c/a> Meanwhile, large swaths of the Sunset, Richmond, Marina and Pacific Heights neighborhoods currently only allow for buildings \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanninggis.org/pim/map/?search=3574009&layers=Height%20and%20Bulk%20Districts\">up to four stories tall\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As San Francisco faces pressure from the state to \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/project/housing-element-update-2022\">plan for more than 82,000 new apartments\u003c/a> by 2031, city officials are considering \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/project/expanding-housing-choice\">opening these northern and western neighborhoods\u003c/a> to apartments six to \u003ca href=\"https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/6e0e399f9c82456dbda233eacebc433d/\">eight stories tall along major streets\u003c/a>, with some large boulevards, such as Geary Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue, going up to 65 stories tall near the city’s downtown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033009\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12033009 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-15-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-15-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-15-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-15-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-15-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-15-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-15-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pedestrians cross the street in San Francisco’s Sunset District on March 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, who represents several of the neighborhoods proposed to be rezoned, said the changes could help bring activity back to \u003ca href=\"https://time.com/7086165/san-francisco-economic-recovery/\">once-lively areas\u003c/a> of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Post-pandemic, San Francisco has not rebounded in the way that other cities have, and we have an opportunity to really thoughtfully increase vibrancy in certain areas of the city,” Sherrill said. “By doing that with residents, we can be really effective in planning for the long-term future of the city that stays true with San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the city’s Principal Planner, Lisa Chen, the decision to add more apartments to the west side is thanks to a state mandate requiring the city to direct new development to well-resourced neighborhoods. People living in the \u003ca href=\"https://belonging.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/external_pages/unpacked/11484/index.html?t=1743463757#faq\">northern and western neighborhoods\u003c/a> have some of the highest incomes, home values, employment rates and better educational attainment rates than their eastern counterparts.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Chen said that if the city were to plan for housing in those areas, the people eventually living there would have access to better resources, such as public transit, parks, high-performing public schools, retail, and community facilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reality is that we have already rezoned many parts of the southern and eastern neighborhoods,” Chen said. “While we can continue to look for more opportunities to add housing in those areas, the state is requiring that the emphasis of this rezoning and the majority of units be placed in the well-resourced neighborhoods.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This can be done sensitively, said San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, by focusing development along major corridors in the western and northern parts of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think people are going to continue to want to work here and live here,” he said. “I think we do need to try as best we can to accommodate that. And I think we can do it without destroying what we love about San Francisco. I think we can balance those things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the plan is receiving mixed reactions from residents, some who want more activity in their suburban-style neighborhoods and others who worry it could displace vulnerable renters and small businesses if the properties they occupy are redeveloped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033008\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033008\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-13-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-13-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-13-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-13-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-13-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-13-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-13-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Houses line a street in San Francisco’s Sunset District on March 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I can see people being forced out of their homes, rent-controlled apartments and buildings being destroyed and luxury market-rate housing being built in its place,” said Don Misumi, a member of tenants’ rights group \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/richmonddistrictrising/\">Richmond District Rising\u003c/a>. “There’s not really much doubt in my mind unless things start to change and I see some concrete proposals that are going to provide tenant protections, that are going to provide protections for small businesses.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s planning department has \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/11v8sWadgj-MTMLTLRZEBF3wmLc6-ZUxL/view?usp=sharing\">already approved roughly 58,100 new apartments\u003c/a>, largely to be built in the eastern part of the city, that are awaiting construction. However, to reach the state’s goal of planning for more than 82,000 new units, the department is proposing that \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/sites/default/files/documents/citywide/housing-choice/RHNA-Primer.pdf\">some of the remaining homes\u003c/a> be built in the north and west sides.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The city’s preliminary map proposes to \u003ca href=\"https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/6e0e399f9c82456dbda233eacebc433d/#data_s=id%3AdataSource_3-18d42c41053-layer-13%3A43743\">rezone commercial corridors\u003c/a>, including 19th Avenue, Geary Boulevard and Clement Street. The bulk of the proposed rezoning would stretch from Russian Hill to Parkside and could allow for taller buildings — up to 65 stories on certain commercial corridors — creating opportunities for thousands of new homes. The plan also includes increasing height limits in other neighborhoods throughout the city, including along Market Street in the Castro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After multiple informational hearings where residents can offer comments and voice concerns, the proposal will go to the planning commission, where it could be amended or changed. It will ultimately have to go before the Board of Supervisors before the end of January 2026, when the city faces a state-mandated deadline to approve a rezoning plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If it misses that deadline, \u003ca href=\"https://sfplanning.org/project/expanding-housing-choice#faqs\">it could lose\u003c/a> state funding for affordable housing and public transportation, risk lawsuits, fines and be subject to the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11945744/california-building-boom-a-new-law-promised-big-but-has-yet-to-deliver-in-the-bay-area\"> builder’s remedy\u003c/a>, a mechanism that allows developers to circumvent local building rules if the city is out of compliance with state housing law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The process for our rezoning is a bit of a fait accompli — we already agreed to this,” said Jane Natoli, San Francisco Organizing Director for the pro-housing lobbying group, YIMBY Action. “All we’re trying to do is honor the commitments we told the state we were going to do, at the end of the day, to build the housing we need for San Franciscans.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>From sand dunes to suburban homes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s decision to rezone the western part of the city marks a break from the area’s historically low-density character. Western neighborhoods were some of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.outsidelands.org/richmond_arch.php\">last parts\u003c/a> of the city to be developed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the mid-to-late 1800s, \u003ca href=\"https://www.outsidelands.org/sunset.php#:~:text=The%201894%20California%20Midwinter%20International,a%20sea%20of%20stucco%20homes\">the Inner Sunset\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.outsidelands.org/richmond_arch.php\">Richmond districts\u003c/a> were home to a handful of dairies, ranches, a chicken farm — even a dynamite factory — while the Outer Sunset stretched out in a yawning sprawl of sand dunes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033006\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033006\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-10-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the Sunset District and Ocean Beach in San Francisco on March 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the aftermath of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/earthquakes/san-francisco\">devastating 1906 earthquake\u003c/a>, refugee camps sprang up on the city’s underdeveloped western side. Woody LaBounty’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.outsidelands.org/sw17.php\">great-grandparents even met at one of those camps\u003c/a> in the Richmond area, he said. The lifelong Richmond resident and president of the preservationist organization San Francisco Heritage said tract houses soon began popping up atop sand dunes to replace the temporary camps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After World War II, most of the Sunset and Richmond districts had been developed into suburban-style neighborhoods with single-family homes, LaBounty said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have a yard for your family to play in, you have multiple bedrooms, you’ve got your own sort of little plot — your little estate,” he said, “even if it’s a 25-by-100-foot lot in the Sunset District.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s for that same reason why many westside residents enjoy this part of town today. Paola Soto said she moved to the Outer Sunset five years ago so she and her husband could raise their daughter in a rented single-family home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just loved the neighborhood and how family-oriented it is,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like part of the city, but you’re still in the city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Soto said there aren’t many amenities or small businesses to patronize on her block. She welcomes the rezoning if it could bring more business activity to her neighborhood but said taller buildings could mean losing “this kind of neighborhood vibe” that she likes.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Picking and choosing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While residents like Soto are hoping the rezoning could bring new small businesses to the Sunset and Richmond, existing business owners are concerned they will be forced out. Yoland Porrata, an esthetician and board member of nonprofit Small Business Forward, owns a skincare studio in the Lower Haight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, she is trying to work with the city to establish new protections against displacement for small business owners, even if they do not own the building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033010\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033010\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-16-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-16-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-16-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-16-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-16-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-16-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250325-APARTMENTSONWESTSIDE-16-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A bicyclist rides down the street in San Francisco’s Sunset District on March 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Do we have a right to return?” she asked. “We already have super vulnerable commercial leases that are not nice and tidy in the way that some of the residential leases are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with small business owners, tenants’ rights groups are equally concerned about the city’s plan. San Francisco offers a bevy of tenant protections, but local groups worry the rezoning might encourage landlords to pressure renters to move out or evict them unlawfully.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dyan Ruiz, a member of Race & Equity In All Planning Coalition, said her organization wants to make sure developers are following the city’s laws and that it can make sure tenants aren’t displaced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to increase the accountability and enforcement of existing laws and making sure that there aren’t gaps and loopholes that tenants are falling through,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LaBounty hopes the city can strike some kind of balance — allowing more housing while still retaining the neighborhoods’ quiet charm. Pointing out the coffee shop across the street from where he lives, he said he doesn’t want to see it go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You got a cafe, a dry cleaner and a bakery right in a row — everybody loves them, you know? Maybe don’t upzone those,” he said. “It feels to me like you could do some picking and choosing, and the neighborhood could totally help you with it too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "california-lawmakers-push-lower-rent-cap-expand-protections-property-owners-worried",
"title": "California Lawmakers Push to Lower Rent Cap, Expand Protections. Property Owners Are Worried",
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"headTitle": "California Lawmakers Push to Lower Rent Cap, Expand Protections. Property Owners Are Worried | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>A few months before the 2020 pandemic hit, lawmakers approved \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11934624/how-much-can-your-landlord-legally-raise-your-rent-this-tool-will-tell-you\">sweeping statewide protections\u003c/a> against evictions and rent increases. Now, a group of legislators wants that law to go further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San José, \u003ca href=\"https://a25.asmdc.org/video/20250402-assemblymember-kalra-unveils-bill-permanently-lower-state-rent-cap-affordable-rent\">announced\u003c/a> a new bill, AB 1157, dubbed the “Affordable Rent Act,” that would expand the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1482\">2019 Tenant Protection Act\u003c/a> to more renters, lower the amount rent can increase each year and make those changes permanent by removing a 2030 sunset date.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For many, the rent just keeps rising by the maximum allowed by state law,” Kalra said at a press conference unveiling the bill. “Areas that were once considered affordable are no longer affordable to the average working-class tenant. Rent is an issue in every corner of this state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill is one of a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1248\">handful\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB436\">of\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB52\">proposed\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB522\">legislation\u003c/a> aimed at strengthening tenants’ rights. As renters \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/homeownership-trends-in-california/\">continue\u003c/a> to make up \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/californias-renters/\">almost half \u003c/a>of the state’s population and are more likely than residents of most other states to spend almost a third of their income on housing costs, tenants’ rights groups say the Affordable Rent Act could help protect millions of renters from displacement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a renter in a non-Tenant Protection Act-protected home — a single-family home — I really need this thing to pass,” said Democratic Assemblymember Alex Lee of Milpitas, a co-author of the bill. “We’re in a deficit, and I don’t want to ask for a raise, so I need to pay my rent too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034321\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/003_KQED_SanFrancisco_RentStrike_03312020_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/003_KQED_SanFrancisco_RentStrike_03312020_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/003_KQED_SanFrancisco_RentStrike_03312020_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/003_KQED_SanFrancisco_RentStrike_03312020_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/003_KQED_SanFrancisco_RentStrike_03312020_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/003_KQED_SanFrancisco_RentStrike_03312020_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/003_KQED_SanFrancisco_RentStrike_03312020_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A “For Rent” sign on a house in the Mission District of San Francisco on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But several real estate and property owner groups are concerned it could make the rental market less attractive for a landlord to enter or stay in and they say it undermines the compromise they struck with tenants’ groups in AB 1482, the Tenant Protection Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Apartment Association, the California Building Industry Association, California Association of Realtors and other groups \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/AB-1157-Kalra-Coalition-Oppose-Lettter.pdf\">sent a letter (PDF)\u003c/a> to Kalra on Tuesday voicing their opposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The law struck a careful balance, aiming to prevent rent gouging while protecting California’s efforts to increase housing production,” said Debra Carlton, executive vice president for state and government affairs for the California Apartment Association. “AB 1482 was intended as a temporary, 10-year measure, allowing time for the Legislature to focus on enacting long-term, pro-housing policies.”[aside postID=news_12021928 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/12/RS46311_031_KQED_SanFrancisco_COVIDShutdown_12062020-qut-1020x680.jpg']\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1157\">AB 1157\u003c/a> builds off the 2019 law by lowering the annual rent increase from a maximum of 10% to a maximum of 5%. In the years since the law has been in effect, \u003ca href=\"https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SA0L1E?output_view=pct_12mths\">inflation has increased\u003c/a> and the amount landlords can raise rents \u003ca href=\"https://caanet.org/all-cpi-figures-for-2024-ab-1482-rent-increases-now-available/\">has crept closer to 10%\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1482\">2019 law \u003c/a>also requires landlords removing a unit from the rental market to pay relocation assistance to evicted tenants and to have a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV§ionNum=1946.2.\">“just cause”\u003c/a> to evict a tenant. While it covers most renters living in multi-family units, it includes exemptions for those living in single-family homes, duplexes and granny flats, among other housing types and living situations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new bill would remove most of those exemptions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Stable rents keep communities whole — when people can stay, they build roots, sustain lasting connections and contribute to local economies,” said Rae Huang, a senior organizer with tenants’ rights coalition Housing Now! “Our elected leaders must step up and act now to protect tenants and ensure that all Californians have a place to call home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rent control has been a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11677380/is-rent-control-working-and-should-we-have-more-or-less-of-it\">recurring point\u003c/a> of debate \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12008424/prop-33-rent-control-is-on-the-ballot-again-election-2024-california\">across California\u003c/a>, as it has repeatedly appeared on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12011500/if-proposition-33-passes-these-bay-area-cities-would-see-big-rent-control-changes\">local \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/proposition-33\">statewide ballots\u003c/a>. Last November, voters \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012553/californians-appear-to-reject-many-rent-control-measures\">shot down Prop 33\u003c/a>, which attempted to repeal the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?article&chapter=2.7.&division=3.&lawCode=CIV&part=4.&title=5.\">Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act\u003c/a>. The 1995 law limits how local governments can impose rent control laws. In her letter to Kalra, Carlton pointed to \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/aer.20181289\">multiple\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/publications/report/3345\">studies\u003c/a> showing that rent control can discourage landlords from placing units on the market and stymie \u003ca href=\"https://www3.mydocsonline.com/pub/hbancstaff/Low-Income-Housing-020816.pdf\">housing construction\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the press conference, Karla acknowledged that argument but said immediate action is needed while affordable housing is built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I agree that we do need to build more housing, but we also need to focus on how we keep families from being displaced,” Kalra said. “The number one thing we can do to prevent homelessness is not building housing — it’s keeping people in their homes so they don’t become homeless.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Tenants’ rights groups say the bill could help renters hold onto an affordable unit, but property owner groups argue it could discourage landlords from staying in the market.",
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"title": "California Lawmakers Push to Lower Rent Cap, Expand Protections. Property Owners Are Worried | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A few months before the 2020 pandemic hit, lawmakers approved \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11934624/how-much-can-your-landlord-legally-raise-your-rent-this-tool-will-tell-you\">sweeping statewide protections\u003c/a> against evictions and rent increases. Now, a group of legislators wants that law to go further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, Assemblymember Ash Kalra, D-San José, \u003ca href=\"https://a25.asmdc.org/video/20250402-assemblymember-kalra-unveils-bill-permanently-lower-state-rent-cap-affordable-rent\">announced\u003c/a> a new bill, AB 1157, dubbed the “Affordable Rent Act,” that would expand the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1482\">2019 Tenant Protection Act\u003c/a> to more renters, lower the amount rent can increase each year and make those changes permanent by removing a 2030 sunset date.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For many, the rent just keeps rising by the maximum allowed by state law,” Kalra said at a press conference unveiling the bill. “Areas that were once considered affordable are no longer affordable to the average working-class tenant. Rent is an issue in every corner of this state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill is one of a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1248\">handful\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB436\">of\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB52\">proposed\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB522\">legislation\u003c/a> aimed at strengthening tenants’ rights. As renters \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/homeownership-trends-in-california/\">continue\u003c/a> to make up \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/californias-renters/\">almost half \u003c/a>of the state’s population and are more likely than residents of most other states to spend almost a third of their income on housing costs, tenants’ rights groups say the Affordable Rent Act could help protect millions of renters from displacement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a renter in a non-Tenant Protection Act-protected home — a single-family home — I really need this thing to pass,” said Democratic Assemblymember Alex Lee of Milpitas, a co-author of the bill. “We’re in a deficit, and I don’t want to ask for a raise, so I need to pay my rent too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034321\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/003_KQED_SanFrancisco_RentStrike_03312020_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/003_KQED_SanFrancisco_RentStrike_03312020_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/003_KQED_SanFrancisco_RentStrike_03312020_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/003_KQED_SanFrancisco_RentStrike_03312020_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/003_KQED_SanFrancisco_RentStrike_03312020_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/003_KQED_SanFrancisco_RentStrike_03312020_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/003_KQED_SanFrancisco_RentStrike_03312020_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A “For Rent” sign on a house in the Mission District of San Francisco on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But several real estate and property owner groups are concerned it could make the rental market less attractive for a landlord to enter or stay in and they say it undermines the compromise they struck with tenants’ groups in AB 1482, the Tenant Protection Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Apartment Association, the California Building Industry Association, California Association of Realtors and other groups \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/AB-1157-Kalra-Coalition-Oppose-Lettter.pdf\">sent a letter (PDF)\u003c/a> to Kalra on Tuesday voicing their opposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The law struck a careful balance, aiming to prevent rent gouging while protecting California’s efforts to increase housing production,” said Debra Carlton, executive vice president for state and government affairs for the California Apartment Association. “AB 1482 was intended as a temporary, 10-year measure, allowing time for the Legislature to focus on enacting long-term, pro-housing policies.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1157\">AB 1157\u003c/a> builds off the 2019 law by lowering the annual rent increase from a maximum of 10% to a maximum of 5%. In the years since the law has been in effect, \u003ca href=\"https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SA0L1E?output_view=pct_12mths\">inflation has increased\u003c/a> and the amount landlords can raise rents \u003ca href=\"https://caanet.org/all-cpi-figures-for-2024-ab-1482-rent-increases-now-available/\">has crept closer to 10%\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1482\">2019 law \u003c/a>also requires landlords removing a unit from the rental market to pay relocation assistance to evicted tenants and to have a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV§ionNum=1946.2.\">“just cause”\u003c/a> to evict a tenant. While it covers most renters living in multi-family units, it includes exemptions for those living in single-family homes, duplexes and granny flats, among other housing types and living situations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new bill would remove most of those exemptions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Stable rents keep communities whole — when people can stay, they build roots, sustain lasting connections and contribute to local economies,” said Rae Huang, a senior organizer with tenants’ rights coalition Housing Now! “Our elected leaders must step up and act now to protect tenants and ensure that all Californians have a place to call home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rent control has been a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11677380/is-rent-control-working-and-should-we-have-more-or-less-of-it\">recurring point\u003c/a> of debate \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12008424/prop-33-rent-control-is-on-the-ballot-again-election-2024-california\">across California\u003c/a>, as it has repeatedly appeared on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12011500/if-proposition-33-passes-these-bay-area-cities-would-see-big-rent-control-changes\">local \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/california/proposition-33\">statewide ballots\u003c/a>. Last November, voters \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012553/californians-appear-to-reject-many-rent-control-measures\">shot down Prop 33\u003c/a>, which attempted to repeal the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?article&chapter=2.7.&division=3.&lawCode=CIV&part=4.&title=5.\">Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act\u003c/a>. The 1995 law limits how local governments can impose rent control laws. In her letter to Kalra, Carlton pointed to \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/aer.20181289\">multiple\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/publications/report/3345\">studies\u003c/a> showing that rent control can discourage landlords from placing units on the market and stymie \u003ca href=\"https://www3.mydocsonline.com/pub/hbancstaff/Low-Income-Housing-020816.pdf\">housing construction\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the press conference, Karla acknowledged that argument but said immediate action is needed while affordable housing is built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I agree that we do need to build more housing, but we also need to focus on how we keep families from being displaced,” Kalra said. “The number one thing we can do to prevent homelessness is not building housing — it’s keeping people in their homes so they don’t become homeless.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "san-francisco-mans-housing-struggle-relapse-put-him-back-on-streets",
"title": "He Lived in SF Drug-Free Housing for Years. A Relapse Put Him Back on the Streets",
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"headTitle": "He Lived in SF Drug-Free Housing for Years. A Relapse Put Him Back on the Streets | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Kull Murray felt like the pieces were finally falling into place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After more than three years of living sober at Delancey Street Foundation, a residential drug rehabilitation program in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>, he had lined up a job and reconnected with family. His future dimmed on a trip home one night in early March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just one drink would be fine, he thought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I ended up drinking at least a 12 pack. And then, the next thing I know, I’m at a park with people I’m familiar with and I’m smoking meth,” Murray, a Central Valley native, said. “It happened so quickly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The slip cost Murray his bed at Delancey Street, where drug use is prohibited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I came back the next morning, they called me in to drug test me. I definitely failed, so I just walked out ‘cause I knew what they were gonna do,” Murray, 41, said. “I was about to graduate. And I’ve been trying to rack my brain, why I made this decision. It was a very unfortunate one. Now I’m stuck on the streets in San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033472\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12033472\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250327_SoberHousing_GC-2-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250327_SoberHousing_GC-2-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250327_SoberHousing_GC-2-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250327_SoberHousing_GC-2-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250327_SoberHousing_GC-2-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250327_SoberHousing_GC-2.jpg 1333w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kull Murray poses for a photo at Hallidie Plaza in San Francisco on March 27, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Murray’s experience comes as San Francisco supervisors push for more low-income housing options that require sobriety in response to the city’s drug crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates say it’s a much-needed component of the city’s public housing inventory for people in recovery or low-income residents seeking a drug-free environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been running transitional housing right down the street for the last 10 years. When they discharge, I gotta look and scramble for them to go to a place that’s safe,” Richard Beal, director of recovery services at Tenderloin Housing Clinic, said at a recent town hall about the city’s response to drug use and homelessness in the Tenderloin neighborhood. “We need drug-free housing. We need to complete the bridge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who oversees the South of Market neighborhood, is leading the charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Virtually 100%, or close to it, of permanent supportive housing right now has a drug-tolerant policy that people can’t be evicted for the use of illicit drugs,” Dorsey told KQED. “There are people that I hear from who are in recovery and in permanent supportive housing who are asking for drug-free options.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unhoused for the first time, Murray slept outside the first two nights. On the third day of homelessness, he visited a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026575/a-new-triage-center-opened-in-san-francisco-but-questions-remain\">triage center on Sixth Street\u003c/a>, where he heard he might find help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m hoping that this place will get me a bed in a shelter, if that’s what happens here. I don’t even really know. I just know they have food, and I haven’t eaten in a couple days; that definitely drew me in,” Murray said, sitting on the facility’s picnic bench one recent morning. “I just don’t want to sleep outside.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A social worker found a shelter bed for Murray, where he’s since been sleeping as he applies to jobs and navigates the city’s web of social services. He said he hasn’t used drugs since the relapse, but every day is difficult trying to maintain sobriety while facing the harsh realities of homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034108\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034108\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240410-BilalMahmood-002-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240410-BilalMahmood-002-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240410-BilalMahmood-002-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240410-BilalMahmood-002-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240410-BilalMahmood-002-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240410-BilalMahmood-002-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240410-BilalMahmood-002-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Board of Supervisors District 5 candidate Bilal Mahmood speaks with District 6 supervisor Matt Dorsey before a press conference about his strategy to end open-air drug markets in San Francisco on April 10, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“What’s creeping into my head and giving me anxiety now is having a uniform or the clothing that I’ll need for a job and the ability to maintain my hygiene,” Murray said on a phone call a few days into his shelter stay. “I’ve taken showers here, but I’m literally putting on the same clothes that I have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It starts wearing on you, like, the hopelessness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2004, under President George W. Bush, the federal government adopted a “housing first” model requiring permanent supportive housing providers to accept residents regardless of drug use, credit history or criminal background. The idea is backed by studies showing that having a place to live increases a person’s likelihood of stabilizing their health and income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recognizing that some people in recovery prefer abstinence housing, in 2022, the Department of Housing and Urban Development modified its policy to include drug-free programs.[aside postID=news_12028499 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250211_SFPOLICETRIAGE_GC-4-KQED-1020x680.jpg']California adopted its housing-first policy in 2016, and state law still prohibits tax dollars from funding drug-free housing. That could soon change. Assemblymember Matt Haney, who represents San Francisco, has proposed \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB255\">legislation\u003c/a> to allow state housing-first dollars to go towards residential programs where up to 25% of units are drug-free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If passed, it would also “prohibit eviction on the basis of relapse,” according to the bill’s text. “If a tenant is no longer interested in living in a supportive-recovery residence or is at risk of eviction,” then they should receive “assistance in accessing housing operated with harm-reduction principles that is also permanent housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Directives from the Trump administration are already filtering down to the local level. HUD officials said they “will not enforce” grant agreements with the City of San Francisco “to the extent that they require the project to use a housing first program model,” according to a \u003ca href=\"https://californiahealthline.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/Housing-First-SF-R.pdf\">memo obtained by \u003cem>Kaiser Health News\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11990693/san-francisco-lawmakers-want-sober-housing-to-be-part-of-homelessness-plan\">Efforts to expand drug-free housing\u003c/a> in San Francisco have percolated for years, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12032892/billionaire-influence-deepens-divisions-among-san-francisco-democrats\">a shift toward the center\u003c/a> among the city’s political leadership has accelerated efforts. The city is on track to open its first drug-free housing facility at the Civic Center Motor Inn this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state and federal changes could boost momentum around legislation that Dorsey plans to reintroduce to grow the city’s abstinence housing stock. His plan would restrict funding for subsidized housing for homeless adults unless a portion of the units are drug-free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034110\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1991px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034110\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250211_SFPoliceTriage_GC-16_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1991\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250211_SFPoliceTriage_GC-16_qed.jpg 1991w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250211_SFPoliceTriage_GC-16_qed-800x536.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250211_SFPoliceTriage_GC-16_qed-1020x683.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250211_SFPoliceTriage_GC-16_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250211_SFPoliceTriage_GC-16_qed-1536x1028.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250211_SFPoliceTriage_GC-16_qed-1920x1285.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1991px) 100vw, 1991px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An outdoor triage center at the 469 Stevenson St. parking lot in San Francisco on Feb. 11, 2025. At the site, individuals who were arrested get dropped off, where they can either get treatment, take a bus out of town or go to jail. The center, operating as a 30-day pilot program, also offers resources and food to individuals. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dorsey, who identifies as a recovering drug addict, said that a relapse in drug-free housing would not immediately trigger an eviction. Ideally, a person who relapses would be referred to other treatment options in a different setting to keep them connected to care and protect other residents hoping to avoid drug use, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If someone were to have a return to use, the policy would actually require that we place people into a more appropriate level of care,” as opposed to being placed on the street, Dorsey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He acknowledged that the city lacks adequate alternatives, and situations like Murray’s aren’t uncommon. “We have to make sure we have treatment on demand and expand our recovery options,” Dorsey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Addiction experts who agree that drug-free housing can support recovery goals have raised concerns over the heightened emphasis on abstinence. Relapse is a regular experience for many substance use disorders.[aside postID=news_12033622 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240903-OverdoseResponse-56-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']“People who are working towards abstinence have a right to be in a space where there’s no drug use. But we are first obligated to see how we can work with them, if we can figure out what support they need,” said Vitka Eisen, who leads one of the city’s largest drug treatment providers, HealthRIGHT360. “Returning to old ways that didn’t work is not the answer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If someone has a relapse in HealthRIGHT360’s residential drug treatment programs, Eisen said they are typically evaluated for alternative care, including withdrawal management, medication-assisted treatment, counseling or other services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An abstinence-based transitional housing program at the Drake Hotel takes similar approaches to relapses, using discharge as a last resort only if someone has been violent or shown other disruptive behavior, according to Beal of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal is to keep people connected to care. That’s the most important thing, to the degree to which we can turn a single slip from a deepening crisis for the individual,” Eisen said. “The worst outcome is when people are disconnected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Living away from drug use helped Murray stick to his sobriety. He’s desperate to find a place to live, but he isn’t looking to move back to Delancy Street, which has residents commit to a two-year stay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not even really an option,” Murray said. “I’m 41 years old. I have kids that I’m desperately trying to get to, and I’ve been there already for three years. I just can’t justify in my head being away from them for another two years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s now hoping for a subsidized housing unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I made a mistake, there’s no denying that. But to have three years of sobriety and getting under my feet then to just be cast out like garbage, it’s pretty tough,” Murray said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between job applications, Murray mostly keeps busy watching YouTube videos about astronomy, history and cute animals. “I spend a lot of time trying to watch positive stuff like educational videos because if I just sit alone and I’m not occupying my mind, it’s pretty depressing,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the shelter, he said he sees many people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders who need supportive housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m in the same situation they are in, but my situation is not hopeless. I can figure this out and get my shit together,” Murray said. “Some of these other folks, it’s not their fault and they’re really, really struggling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "San Francisco supervisors are pushing for more abstinence-based housing as state and federal lawmakers move away from housing-first policies, sparking debate over the future of drug-free programs.",
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"title": "He Lived in SF Drug-Free Housing for Years. A Relapse Put Him Back on the Streets | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Kull Murray felt like the pieces were finally falling into place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After more than three years of living sober at Delancey Street Foundation, a residential drug rehabilitation program in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a>, he had lined up a job and reconnected with family. His future dimmed on a trip home one night in early March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just one drink would be fine, he thought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I ended up drinking at least a 12 pack. And then, the next thing I know, I’m at a park with people I’m familiar with and I’m smoking meth,” Murray, a Central Valley native, said. “It happened so quickly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The slip cost Murray his bed at Delancey Street, where drug use is prohibited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I came back the next morning, they called me in to drug test me. I definitely failed, so I just walked out ‘cause I knew what they were gonna do,” Murray, 41, said. “I was about to graduate. And I’ve been trying to rack my brain, why I made this decision. It was a very unfortunate one. Now I’m stuck on the streets in San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033472\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12033472\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250327_SoberHousing_GC-2-800x1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250327_SoberHousing_GC-2-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250327_SoberHousing_GC-2-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250327_SoberHousing_GC-2-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250327_SoberHousing_GC-2-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250327_SoberHousing_GC-2.jpg 1333w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kull Murray poses for a photo at Hallidie Plaza in San Francisco on March 27, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Murray’s experience comes as San Francisco supervisors push for more low-income housing options that require sobriety in response to the city’s drug crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates say it’s a much-needed component of the city’s public housing inventory for people in recovery or low-income residents seeking a drug-free environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve been running transitional housing right down the street for the last 10 years. When they discharge, I gotta look and scramble for them to go to a place that’s safe,” Richard Beal, director of recovery services at Tenderloin Housing Clinic, said at a recent town hall about the city’s response to drug use and homelessness in the Tenderloin neighborhood. “We need drug-free housing. We need to complete the bridge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who oversees the South of Market neighborhood, is leading the charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Virtually 100%, or close to it, of permanent supportive housing right now has a drug-tolerant policy that people can’t be evicted for the use of illicit drugs,” Dorsey told KQED. “There are people that I hear from who are in recovery and in permanent supportive housing who are asking for drug-free options.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unhoused for the first time, Murray slept outside the first two nights. On the third day of homelessness, he visited a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026575/a-new-triage-center-opened-in-san-francisco-but-questions-remain\">triage center on Sixth Street\u003c/a>, where he heard he might find help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m hoping that this place will get me a bed in a shelter, if that’s what happens here. I don’t even really know. I just know they have food, and I haven’t eaten in a couple days; that definitely drew me in,” Murray said, sitting on the facility’s picnic bench one recent morning. “I just don’t want to sleep outside.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A social worker found a shelter bed for Murray, where he’s since been sleeping as he applies to jobs and navigates the city’s web of social services. He said he hasn’t used drugs since the relapse, but every day is difficult trying to maintain sobriety while facing the harsh realities of homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034108\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034108\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240410-BilalMahmood-002-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240410-BilalMahmood-002-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240410-BilalMahmood-002-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240410-BilalMahmood-002-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240410-BilalMahmood-002-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240410-BilalMahmood-002-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/240410-BilalMahmood-002-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Board of Supervisors District 5 candidate Bilal Mahmood speaks with District 6 supervisor Matt Dorsey before a press conference about his strategy to end open-air drug markets in San Francisco on April 10, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“What’s creeping into my head and giving me anxiety now is having a uniform or the clothing that I’ll need for a job and the ability to maintain my hygiene,” Murray said on a phone call a few days into his shelter stay. “I’ve taken showers here, but I’m literally putting on the same clothes that I have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It starts wearing on you, like, the hopelessness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2004, under President George W. Bush, the federal government adopted a “housing first” model requiring permanent supportive housing providers to accept residents regardless of drug use, credit history or criminal background. The idea is backed by studies showing that having a place to live increases a person’s likelihood of stabilizing their health and income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recognizing that some people in recovery prefer abstinence housing, in 2022, the Department of Housing and Urban Development modified its policy to include drug-free programs.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>California adopted its housing-first policy in 2016, and state law still prohibits tax dollars from funding drug-free housing. That could soon change. Assemblymember Matt Haney, who represents San Francisco, has proposed \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB255\">legislation\u003c/a> to allow state housing-first dollars to go towards residential programs where up to 25% of units are drug-free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If passed, it would also “prohibit eviction on the basis of relapse,” according to the bill’s text. “If a tenant is no longer interested in living in a supportive-recovery residence or is at risk of eviction,” then they should receive “assistance in accessing housing operated with harm-reduction principles that is also permanent housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Directives from the Trump administration are already filtering down to the local level. HUD officials said they “will not enforce” grant agreements with the City of San Francisco “to the extent that they require the project to use a housing first program model,” according to a \u003ca href=\"https://californiahealthline.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/Housing-First-SF-R.pdf\">memo obtained by \u003cem>Kaiser Health News\u003c/em>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11990693/san-francisco-lawmakers-want-sober-housing-to-be-part-of-homelessness-plan\">Efforts to expand drug-free housing\u003c/a> in San Francisco have percolated for years, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12032892/billionaire-influence-deepens-divisions-among-san-francisco-democrats\">a shift toward the center\u003c/a> among the city’s political leadership has accelerated efforts. The city is on track to open its first drug-free housing facility at the Civic Center Motor Inn this summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state and federal changes could boost momentum around legislation that Dorsey plans to reintroduce to grow the city’s abstinence housing stock. His plan would restrict funding for subsidized housing for homeless adults unless a portion of the units are drug-free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034110\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1991px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034110\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250211_SFPoliceTriage_GC-16_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1991\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250211_SFPoliceTriage_GC-16_qed.jpg 1991w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250211_SFPoliceTriage_GC-16_qed-800x536.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250211_SFPoliceTriage_GC-16_qed-1020x683.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250211_SFPoliceTriage_GC-16_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250211_SFPoliceTriage_GC-16_qed-1536x1028.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250211_SFPoliceTriage_GC-16_qed-1920x1285.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1991px) 100vw, 1991px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An outdoor triage center at the 469 Stevenson St. parking lot in San Francisco on Feb. 11, 2025. At the site, individuals who were arrested get dropped off, where they can either get treatment, take a bus out of town or go to jail. The center, operating as a 30-day pilot program, also offers resources and food to individuals. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dorsey, who identifies as a recovering drug addict, said that a relapse in drug-free housing would not immediately trigger an eviction. Ideally, a person who relapses would be referred to other treatment options in a different setting to keep them connected to care and protect other residents hoping to avoid drug use, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If someone were to have a return to use, the policy would actually require that we place people into a more appropriate level of care,” as opposed to being placed on the street, Dorsey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He acknowledged that the city lacks adequate alternatives, and situations like Murray’s aren’t uncommon. “We have to make sure we have treatment on demand and expand our recovery options,” Dorsey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Addiction experts who agree that drug-free housing can support recovery goals have raised concerns over the heightened emphasis on abstinence. Relapse is a regular experience for many substance use disorders.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“People who are working towards abstinence have a right to be in a space where there’s no drug use. But we are first obligated to see how we can work with them, if we can figure out what support they need,” said Vitka Eisen, who leads one of the city’s largest drug treatment providers, HealthRIGHT360. “Returning to old ways that didn’t work is not the answer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If someone has a relapse in HealthRIGHT360’s residential drug treatment programs, Eisen said they are typically evaluated for alternative care, including withdrawal management, medication-assisted treatment, counseling or other services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An abstinence-based transitional housing program at the Drake Hotel takes similar approaches to relapses, using discharge as a last resort only if someone has been violent or shown other disruptive behavior, according to Beal of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal is to keep people connected to care. That’s the most important thing, to the degree to which we can turn a single slip from a deepening crisis for the individual,” Eisen said. “The worst outcome is when people are disconnected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Living away from drug use helped Murray stick to his sobriety. He’s desperate to find a place to live, but he isn’t looking to move back to Delancy Street, which has residents commit to a two-year stay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not even really an option,” Murray said. “I’m 41 years old. I have kids that I’m desperately trying to get to, and I’ve been there already for three years. I just can’t justify in my head being away from them for another two years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s now hoping for a subsidized housing unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I made a mistake, there’s no denying that. But to have three years of sobriety and getting under my feet then to just be cast out like garbage, it’s pretty tough,” Murray said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Between job applications, Murray mostly keeps busy watching YouTube videos about astronomy, history and cute animals. “I spend a lot of time trying to watch positive stuff like educational videos because if I just sit alone and I’m not occupying my mind, it’s pretty depressing,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the shelter, he said he sees many people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders who need supportive housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m in the same situation they are in, but my situation is not hopeless. I can figure this out and get my shit together,” Murray said. “Some of these other folks, it’s not their fault and they’re really, really struggling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "wealthy-bay-area-enclave-battle-historic-homes-hits-boiling-point",
"title": "In Wealthy Bay Area Enclave, a Battle Over ‘Historic’ Homes Hits Boiling Point",
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"headTitle": "In Wealthy Bay Area Enclave, a Battle Over ‘Historic’ Homes Hits Boiling Point | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>A yearslong, drag-out fight in a wealthy Bay Area enclave over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12024770/north-beach-a-historic-district-not-yet-sf-mayor-lurie-says\">what should be considered “historic”\u003c/a> has reached a breaking point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, the San Mateo City Council sent a letter pleading with California’s historic preservation board to delay a decision on whether to deem Baywood, one of its most coveted neighborhoods, eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The coalition of homeowners who launched the effort shot back, accusing the city of defamation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For four years, a contentious battle has raged between the group, which said it wants to “protect historic resources” in San Mateo, and other homeowners who don’t see their 20th-century homes as particularly extraordinary. It all began when a few homeowners along Fairfax Avenue decided to renovate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of them was Gene Alston. He and his wife bought their home in 2021 and were drawn to Baywood’s wide, quiet streets, quick commute to their daughters’ school and strong community feel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, their excitement was quickly tainted. As Alston began preparing to renovate their new home — which included shifting the house forward on the lot, changing the architecture style and building an accessory dwelling unit for his mother-in-law in the backyard — neighbors got wind. They weren’t happy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flyers stuck in mailboxes warned that the new homeowners were going to destroy a historic property. When Alston hosted a meeting to discuss the remodel with neighbors who live within 500 feet, per city policy, he said a “flash mob” of people who live outside the radius joined the video call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11981486\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11981486\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-017-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-017-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-017-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-017-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-017-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-017-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-017-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Less Red Tape yard sign is placed in the yard of a home in the Baywood neighborhood in San Mateo, California, on Thursday, March 28, 2024. Less Red Tape is a neighborhood grassroots organization that aims to stop the designation of Baywood as a historic district, which would prevent homeowners from easily making renovations, as well as drive up the cost. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Leaders of the Baywood Neighborhood Association hired a historic preservation architect who deemed Alston’s home historic and retained attorneys to oppose the remodel. At the time, that included Mike Nash, whose property abuts the Alstons’ and who is married to San Mateo Councilmember Lisa Diaz Nash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alston, who is Black and Korean, said the effort felt hostile and made his family feel unwelcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Diaz Nash told KQED at the time that opposition to Alston’s renovation had nothing to do with proximity to her home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Is it because we are not established residents in Baywood, even though we’re established in San Mateo?” asked Alston, who has lived on the San Francisco Peninsula for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city approved his planning proposal in 2022, but it spurred a larger movement against development in Baywood.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘It was a catalyst’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A few neighbors who had opposed the renovation of Alston’s home and two others nearby that year formed the San Mateo Heritage Alliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the organization, they applied to have Baywood added to the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district, which requires approval from California’s state historic resources commission. President Laurie Hietter said they wanted to preserve San Mateo’s architecture and history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11981487\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11981487\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-023-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-023-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-023-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-023-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Houses in the Baywood neighborhood are seen in San Mateo, California, on Thursday, March 28, 2024. The San Mateo Heritage Alliance (SMHA) wants to designate Baywood as a historic district, which would prevent homeowners from making changes to their homes as they would have to adhere to specific guidelines. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Critics of the group stuck yellow signs in their lawns and formed their own organization, Less Red Tape, to inform Baywood residents — most of whom were entirely removed from this debate at the time — about the potential drawbacks of the historic designation, which they said would include stricter environmental impact scrutiny and parameters on how they can renovate the exteriors of their homes in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, talk of the looming decision by the state has been continuous, at least at City Hall. Residents of Baywood and nearby neighborhoods have attended City Council meetings and signed petitions — some set on preserving the look of the neighborhood they moved into decades ago, and others arguing that new restrictions would make renovating their homes nearly impossible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June 2024, the council tried to broker an agreement between SMHA and Less Red Tape, proposing to create its own updated local historic resources program. In the meantime, council members hoped that SMHA would pause its appeal to the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deal fell apart, but Hietter said SMHA still pulled back for about six months. In December, she announced that the group would resume its push for state recognition, citing slow movement on the part of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the council’s letter urging the historic resources board not to vote on Baywood’s status during its May meeting, officials said San Mateo had “recently allocated funds to develop a local process for evaluating and designating historic resources, including updates to related ordinances,” which it said would increase community engagement and “build consensus around our historic preservation efforts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Should the nomination advance at the state level before our local process is fully developed, it could inadvertently undermine these efforts — not only in Baywood but across the entire City of San Mateo,” the council said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What makes a neighborhood historic?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to SMHA’s application to the state board, Baywood became a commuter suburb of San Francisco as the city emerged as an industrial hub in the 1920s and ’30s. Upper and middle-class businesspeople who wanted to get out of the dense cityscape after much of it was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake moved a 20- to 30-minute streetcar ride down the peninsula and built homes in the hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hietter said the mix of French, Spanish revival and Tudor style homes are signatories of the time period and important to preserve. But not all Baywood neighbors agree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033671\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033671\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-008_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-008_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-008_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-008_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-008_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-008_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-008_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lead organizer of Less Red Tape Frank Elliott stands for a portrait in the Baywood neighborhood in San Mateo, California, on Thursday, March 28, 2024. Elliott, who has lived in his home since 1997, founded Less Red Tape to protest the designation of Baywood as a historic district. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s an invented history,” said Frank Elliott, a fellow resident and founder of Less Red Tape. “The architecture is only distinct because the homes represent styles of houses that were built at the time they were built.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The area that would be covered by the historic designation, which includes about 440 homes, is a mix of over 40 styles designed by more than 20 architects, he argues. Almost 100 have been renovated significantly enough that they no longer qualify as historic on their own, according to SMHA’s application.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city has three existing historic districts, two of which have been recognized at the local level since the early 1990s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glazenwood — a neighborhood that spans one U-shaped road and a short offshoot just south of the city’s downtown — is the only residential zone considered historic. Most of the 70 single-story homes within the restored white pillars that stand at its three entrances are 1920s-style Spanish colonial structures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The neighborhood was originally part of the estate of Alvinza Hayward, a San Francisco businessman in the late 1800s. When Hayward died, his mansion was turned into the ritzy Peninsula Hotel, which operated until the property burned down in 1920. After the fire, the land was divided into single-family homes, most of which were built between 1922 and 1925 by one company.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Exacerbating patterns of segregation\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Just one additional property, the Yoshiko Yamanouchi House, has been deemed historic in San Mateo since the ’90s. However, across California, the number of applications from neighborhoods requesting historic status has been increasing over the last decade, according to Annie Fryman, the director of special projects at the housing advocacy group SPUR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although no searchable database of historic district nominations exists, according to the state parks department, six neighborhoods in California — including St. Francis Wood in southwest San Francisco — were granted historic status between October 2020 and March 2024 based on applications with the same loose outline as Baywood’s.[aside postID=news_12024770 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250113_North-Beach_DMB_00193-1020x680.jpg']The increase in historic district applications could be a reaction to new state housing legislation being implemented at the same time, much of which is meant to ease development and help cities meet lofty requirements for building new housing, Fryman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of these laws, which aim to rectify years of housing discrimination, expedite permitting and allow more single-family lots to be subdivided into duplexes. They also carve out exemptions for historic places.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the challenges with historic districts is that they’re often exacerbating existing patterns of segregation by saying, ‘This is already a segregated place and nothing here can ever change,’” Fryman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Disproportionately, neighborhoods that get these designations are in wealthier, more segregated areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So many state housing laws are basically attempts on the edges to address existing patterns of segregation,” Fryman told KQED. “And establishing historic districts squarely takes us backwards in that journey. That’s something that hasn’t been reconciled in the field yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Baywood was developed in the 1920s and ’30s, it had housing covenants that blocked Black and Asian people from purchasing homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, it remains one of San Mateo’s most prestigious — and wealthiest — neighborhoods. It’s 70% white, and the median sale price for three-bedroom properties like the one Alston purchased was $3.03 million from 2021 to 2024, according to Zillow, an online real estate marketplace.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>More ‘Red Tape’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Elliott and Alston believe the SMHA is motivated by a desire to “control the neighborhood.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A historic designation could force homeowners to hire historic consultants, go through additional California Environmental Quality Act reviews or face lawsuits, making renovations more expensive and resource-intensive, Elliott said. CEQA litigation adds an average of two years to a housing project’s timeline, according to a report from the state’s Little Hoover Commission, an independent oversight agency that investigates state government operations and policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033668\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033668\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-022_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-022_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-022_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-022_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-022_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Houses in the Baywood neighborhood are seen in San Mateo, California, on Thursday, March 28, 2024. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“In the face of such lengthy delays, financing can vanish, stopping a project even if it would eventually have survived the CEQA process and been approved,” the report said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hietter argues that a historic designation’s effect on homeowners would be minimal and maintains that the designation is symbolic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Historic resource regulations are enforced at the local level, and it would be up to San Mateo to add Baywood to its historic resource ordinance, Hietter said. San Mateo is considering updating its ordinance, and SMHA would advocate for Baywood to be added, she told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not looking to have an extremely restrictive ordinance. The ordinance would only apply if you’re doing something that’s visible from the street,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The gain for us is to raise awareness about historic resources, to have a sign that says, ‘This is a historic district,’ so that if people want to come in here and mow down a house, they’re going to think twice,” Hietter told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A time-consuming, costly process\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Alstons bought their first home in San Mateo 25 years ago and have built successful careers working for various Silicon Valley tech giants since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After having two daughters and outgrowing that home, they moved around Burlingame and San Mateo several times, finally planning to settle in Baywood. Alston said the neighborhood finally met his wife’s top priority — a strong community feel similar to that of their first home, where young families were always hosting backyard barbecues and birthday celebrations or inviting the kids to shoot hoops and ride bikes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11981485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11981485 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-016-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-016-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-016-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-016-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-016-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-016-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-016-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Less Red Tape yard sign is placed in the yard of a home in the Baywood neighborhood in San Mateo on March 28, 2024. Less Red Tape is a neighborhood grassroots organization that aims to stop the designation of Baywood as a historic district, which would prevent homeowners from easily making renovations, as well as drive up the cost. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The renovation, though, has been discouraging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Alston’s project plans were originally approved, neighbors submitted a historic evaluation of his house and a letter from an attorney, asking the city to apply historic preservation restrictions. Alston commissioned his own historic assessment, racked up thousands of dollars in city fees, and fielded multiple nuisance complaints in the following years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His whole family, including his mother-in-law, presented the renovation project to the city’s planning commission in July 2022, anticipating appeals. It was unanimously approved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alston hoped to complete the renovation last year, but he said that additional pushback — and changes he made to the renovated design to try to nullify some of the controversy — slowed progress. He now believes the time-consuming and costly process will be over in May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alston said he thinks his project ultimately gained approval because it includes an ADU. California legislation passed in 2021 requires that cities limit project-by-project discretionary reviews of renovations that subdivide single-family lots into duplexes or add junior units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law, Senate Bill 9, has a carve-out for homes in historic districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alston believes that if Baywood had been historic when he started the renovation process four years ago, “you wouldn’t be able to do it. If they for some reason wanted to pick on your project, you couldn’t do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "For four years, a contentious battle has raged over whether San Mateo’s Baywood neighborhood should be a historic district. The City Council is urging California not to take action.",
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"title": "In Wealthy Bay Area Enclave, a Battle Over ‘Historic’ Homes Hits Boiling Point | KQED",
"description": "For four years, a contentious battle has raged over whether San Mateo’s Baywood neighborhood should be a historic district. The City Council is urging California not to take action.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A yearslong, drag-out fight in a wealthy Bay Area enclave over \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12024770/north-beach-a-historic-district-not-yet-sf-mayor-lurie-says\">what should be considered “historic”\u003c/a> has reached a breaking point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, the San Mateo City Council sent a letter pleading with California’s historic preservation board to delay a decision on whether to deem Baywood, one of its most coveted neighborhoods, eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The coalition of homeowners who launched the effort shot back, accusing the city of defamation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For four years, a contentious battle has raged between the group, which said it wants to “protect historic resources” in San Mateo, and other homeowners who don’t see their 20th-century homes as particularly extraordinary. It all began when a few homeowners along Fairfax Avenue decided to renovate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of them was Gene Alston. He and his wife bought their home in 2021 and were drawn to Baywood’s wide, quiet streets, quick commute to their daughters’ school and strong community feel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, their excitement was quickly tainted. As Alston began preparing to renovate their new home — which included shifting the house forward on the lot, changing the architecture style and building an accessory dwelling unit for his mother-in-law in the backyard — neighbors got wind. They weren’t happy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Flyers stuck in mailboxes warned that the new homeowners were going to destroy a historic property. When Alston hosted a meeting to discuss the remodel with neighbors who live within 500 feet, per city policy, he said a “flash mob” of people who live outside the radius joined the video call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11981486\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11981486\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-017-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-017-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-017-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-017-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-017-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-017-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-017-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Less Red Tape yard sign is placed in the yard of a home in the Baywood neighborhood in San Mateo, California, on Thursday, March 28, 2024. Less Red Tape is a neighborhood grassroots organization that aims to stop the designation of Baywood as a historic district, which would prevent homeowners from easily making renovations, as well as drive up the cost. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Leaders of the Baywood Neighborhood Association hired a historic preservation architect who deemed Alston’s home historic and retained attorneys to oppose the remodel. At the time, that included Mike Nash, whose property abuts the Alstons’ and who is married to San Mateo Councilmember Lisa Diaz Nash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alston, who is Black and Korean, said the effort felt hostile and made his family feel unwelcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Diaz Nash told KQED at the time that opposition to Alston’s renovation had nothing to do with proximity to her home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Is it because we are not established residents in Baywood, even though we’re established in San Mateo?” asked Alston, who has lived on the San Francisco Peninsula for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city approved his planning proposal in 2022, but it spurred a larger movement against development in Baywood.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘It was a catalyst’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A few neighbors who had opposed the renovation of Alston’s home and two others nearby that year formed the San Mateo Heritage Alliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the organization, they applied to have Baywood added to the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district, which requires approval from California’s state historic resources commission. President Laurie Hietter said they wanted to preserve San Mateo’s architecture and history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11981487\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11981487\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-023-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-023-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-023-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-023-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-023-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-023-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-023-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Houses in the Baywood neighborhood are seen in San Mateo, California, on Thursday, March 28, 2024. The San Mateo Heritage Alliance (SMHA) wants to designate Baywood as a historic district, which would prevent homeowners from making changes to their homes as they would have to adhere to specific guidelines. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Critics of the group stuck yellow signs in their lawns and formed their own organization, Less Red Tape, to inform Baywood residents — most of whom were entirely removed from this debate at the time — about the potential drawbacks of the historic designation, which they said would include stricter environmental impact scrutiny and parameters on how they can renovate the exteriors of their homes in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, talk of the looming decision by the state has been continuous, at least at City Hall. Residents of Baywood and nearby neighborhoods have attended City Council meetings and signed petitions — some set on preserving the look of the neighborhood they moved into decades ago, and others arguing that new restrictions would make renovating their homes nearly impossible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June 2024, the council tried to broker an agreement between SMHA and Less Red Tape, proposing to create its own updated local historic resources program. In the meantime, council members hoped that SMHA would pause its appeal to the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deal fell apart, but Hietter said SMHA still pulled back for about six months. In December, she announced that the group would resume its push for state recognition, citing slow movement on the part of the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the council’s letter urging the historic resources board not to vote on Baywood’s status during its May meeting, officials said San Mateo had “recently allocated funds to develop a local process for evaluating and designating historic resources, including updates to related ordinances,” which it said would increase community engagement and “build consensus around our historic preservation efforts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Should the nomination advance at the state level before our local process is fully developed, it could inadvertently undermine these efforts — not only in Baywood but across the entire City of San Mateo,” the council said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What makes a neighborhood historic?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to SMHA’s application to the state board, Baywood became a commuter suburb of San Francisco as the city emerged as an industrial hub in the 1920s and ’30s. Upper and middle-class businesspeople who wanted to get out of the dense cityscape after much of it was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake moved a 20- to 30-minute streetcar ride down the peninsula and built homes in the hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hietter said the mix of French, Spanish revival and Tudor style homes are signatories of the time period and important to preserve. But not all Baywood neighbors agree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033671\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033671\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-008_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-008_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-008_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-008_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-008_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-008_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-008_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lead organizer of Less Red Tape Frank Elliott stands for a portrait in the Baywood neighborhood in San Mateo, California, on Thursday, March 28, 2024. Elliott, who has lived in his home since 1997, founded Less Red Tape to protest the designation of Baywood as a historic district. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s an invented history,” said Frank Elliott, a fellow resident and founder of Less Red Tape. “The architecture is only distinct because the homes represent styles of houses that were built at the time they were built.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The area that would be covered by the historic designation, which includes about 440 homes, is a mix of over 40 styles designed by more than 20 architects, he argues. Almost 100 have been renovated significantly enough that they no longer qualify as historic on their own, according to SMHA’s application.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city has three existing historic districts, two of which have been recognized at the local level since the early 1990s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glazenwood — a neighborhood that spans one U-shaped road and a short offshoot just south of the city’s downtown — is the only residential zone considered historic. Most of the 70 single-story homes within the restored white pillars that stand at its three entrances are 1920s-style Spanish colonial structures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The neighborhood was originally part of the estate of Alvinza Hayward, a San Francisco businessman in the late 1800s. When Hayward died, his mansion was turned into the ritzy Peninsula Hotel, which operated until the property burned down in 1920. After the fire, the land was divided into single-family homes, most of which were built between 1922 and 1925 by one company.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Exacerbating patterns of segregation\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Just one additional property, the Yoshiko Yamanouchi House, has been deemed historic in San Mateo since the ’90s. However, across California, the number of applications from neighborhoods requesting historic status has been increasing over the last decade, according to Annie Fryman, the director of special projects at the housing advocacy group SPUR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although no searchable database of historic district nominations exists, according to the state parks department, six neighborhoods in California — including St. Francis Wood in southwest San Francisco — were granted historic status between October 2020 and March 2024 based on applications with the same loose outline as Baywood’s.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The increase in historic district applications could be a reaction to new state housing legislation being implemented at the same time, much of which is meant to ease development and help cities meet lofty requirements for building new housing, Fryman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of these laws, which aim to rectify years of housing discrimination, expedite permitting and allow more single-family lots to be subdivided into duplexes. They also carve out exemptions for historic places.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the challenges with historic districts is that they’re often exacerbating existing patterns of segregation by saying, ‘This is already a segregated place and nothing here can ever change,’” Fryman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Disproportionately, neighborhoods that get these designations are in wealthier, more segregated areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So many state housing laws are basically attempts on the edges to address existing patterns of segregation,” Fryman told KQED. “And establishing historic districts squarely takes us backwards in that journey. That’s something that hasn’t been reconciled in the field yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Baywood was developed in the 1920s and ’30s, it had housing covenants that blocked Black and Asian people from purchasing homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, it remains one of San Mateo’s most prestigious — and wealthiest — neighborhoods. It’s 70% white, and the median sale price for three-bedroom properties like the one Alston purchased was $3.03 million from 2021 to 2024, according to Zillow, an online real estate marketplace.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>More ‘Red Tape’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Elliott and Alston believe the SMHA is motivated by a desire to “control the neighborhood.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A historic designation could force homeowners to hire historic consultants, go through additional California Environmental Quality Act reviews or face lawsuits, making renovations more expensive and resource-intensive, Elliott said. CEQA litigation adds an average of two years to a housing project’s timeline, according to a report from the state’s Little Hoover Commission, an independent oversight agency that investigates state government operations and policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033668\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033668\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-022_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-022_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-022_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-022_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240328-BaywoodHistoricDistrict-JY-022_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Houses in the Baywood neighborhood are seen in San Mateo, California, on Thursday, March 28, 2024. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“In the face of such lengthy delays, financing can vanish, stopping a project even if it would eventually have survived the CEQA process and been approved,” the report said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hietter argues that a historic designation’s effect on homeowners would be minimal and maintains that the designation is symbolic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Historic resource regulations are enforced at the local level, and it would be up to San Mateo to add Baywood to its historic resource ordinance, Hietter said. San Mateo is considering updating its ordinance, and SMHA would advocate for Baywood to be added, she told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not looking to have an extremely restrictive ordinance. The ordinance would only apply if you’re doing something that’s visible from the street,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The gain for us is to raise awareness about historic resources, to have a sign that says, ‘This is a historic district,’ so that if people want to come in here and mow down a house, they’re going to think twice,” Hietter told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A time-consuming, costly process\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Alstons bought their first home in San Mateo 25 years ago and have built successful careers working for various Silicon Valley tech giants since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After having two daughters and outgrowing that home, they moved around Burlingame and San Mateo several times, finally planning to settle in Baywood. Alston said the neighborhood finally met his wife’s top priority — a strong community feel similar to that of their first home, where young families were always hosting backyard barbecues and birthday celebrations or inviting the kids to shoot hoops and ride bikes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11981485\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11981485 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-016-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-016-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-016-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-016-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-016-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-016-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/240328-BAYWOODHISTORICDISTRICT-JY-016-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Less Red Tape yard sign is placed in the yard of a home in the Baywood neighborhood in San Mateo on March 28, 2024. Less Red Tape is a neighborhood grassroots organization that aims to stop the designation of Baywood as a historic district, which would prevent homeowners from easily making renovations, as well as drive up the cost. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The renovation, though, has been discouraging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Alston’s project plans were originally approved, neighbors submitted a historic evaluation of his house and a letter from an attorney, asking the city to apply historic preservation restrictions. Alston commissioned his own historic assessment, racked up thousands of dollars in city fees, and fielded multiple nuisance complaints in the following years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His whole family, including his mother-in-law, presented the renovation project to the city’s planning commission in July 2022, anticipating appeals. It was unanimously approved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alston hoped to complete the renovation last year, but he said that additional pushback — and changes he made to the renovated design to try to nullify some of the controversy — slowed progress. He now believes the time-consuming and costly process will be over in May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alston said he thinks his project ultimately gained approval because it includes an ADU. California legislation passed in 2021 requires that cities limit project-by-project discretionary reviews of renovations that subdivide single-family lots into duplexes or add junior units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law, Senate Bill 9, has a carve-out for homes in historic districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alston believes that if Baywood had been historic when he started the renovation process four years ago, “you wouldn’t be able to do it. If they for some reason wanted to pick on your project, you couldn’t do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Progress By 1,000 Cuts? Housing Legislation Snips Away at California’s Red Tape",
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"headTitle": "Progress By 1,000 Cuts? Housing Legislation Snips Away at California’s Red Tape | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>When it comes to building California out of its \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/793\">housing shortage\u003c/a>, some lawmakers say the devil is most often in the details.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To begin untangling what they describe as a knotted web of regulation, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, on Thursday announced an ambitious and wide-ranging package of more than 20 bills from over a dozen authors. Together, the package seeks to surgically remove red tape at nearly every stage of the permitting journey, from application through construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The goal, Wicks said, is “clearer rules when it comes to housing, faster timelines and fewer bureaucratic hoops.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The package, which includes at least one Republican-authored bill, is mostly technical in nature: cleaning up or extending prior legislation, expanding existing law to additional agencies and closing loopholes. However, it also includes several proposals that touch on third-rail topics in California, including bills to streamline or exempt certain housing projects from environmental or Coastal Commission review.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This bill package represents iteration,” Wicks said of the overall vision. “Taking a deep dive into the weeds and trying to understand what have been the hurdles? Why has this been so hard? Why is it so difficult to actually permit housing and entitle housing and get it up and running?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wicks led that deep dive last year, when she helmed an \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/committees/1470#bills-and-hearings\">Assembly Select Committee\u003c/a> that invited practitioners, experts and others to share their experiences and describe the barriers that come with building new housing, transit and clean energy projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11914459\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11914459\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/Buffy-Wicks-scaled-e1652831452424.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1371\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Buffy Wicks speaks on the floor of the state Assembly in January 2020. \u003ccite>(Krishnia Parker/California State Assembly Democratic Caucus)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Wicks’ report on the committee’s findings, released \u003ca href=\"https://a14.asmdc.org/sites/a14.asmdc.org/files/2025-02/assemblyselectcommitteeonpermittingreform-finalreportwithoutappendices-march2025.pdf\">earlier this month\u003c/a>, outlined a goal: that permitting — any “decision point” where a government must give permission for a new project to proceed — should be timely, transparent and consistently applied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, perhaps above all, the report noted, it should result in actually getting the project built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve become victims in California of making the process the objective; the process is sacred,” said Matt Regan, a policy lead at the business-oriented Bay Area Council, which helped facilitate the hearings, tours and interviews that informed the committee’s white paper. “What [Wicks is] saying is maybe, the end product is more important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Republican Asm. Josh Hoover, of Folsom, said there’s a lot in the package with which people in his party can agree. Hoover pins some of the blame for California’s spiraling home costs on an “anti-housing majority” that overregulated the industry into gridlock and said this bill package is a welcome retreat from that trend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, I’ve actually really appreciated the work Asm. Wicks is doing because she really is pushing back against a lot of that,” he said. “The only way we’re actually going to build the homes that we need in California is by reforming a lot of these things and getting rid of a lot of these barriers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Third-rail politics\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While many of the bills in the package are more narrowly focused on the minutiae of the state’s permitting labyrinths, others take aim at issues long seen as sacrosanct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of Wicks’ own bills, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB609\">AB 609\u003c/a>, would exempt infill housing projects, if they’re consistent with local regulations, from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Another bill, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB607\">SB 607\u003c/a> from Democratic San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener, removes what proponents describe as duplicative work that’s currently required under CEQA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033318\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12033318 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Bay-Meadows-Sales-Sign.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Bay-Meadows-Sales-Sign.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Bay-Meadows-Sales-Sign-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Bay-Meadows-Sales-Sign-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Bay-Meadows-Sales-Sign-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Bay-Meadows-Sales-Sign-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Bay-Meadows-Sales-Sign-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bay Meadows, San Mateo’s largest new development, is transforming a former racetrack into a vibrant community with 1,100 new housing units, commercial spaces, parks and a high school — all still under construction — on Jan. 20, 2015. \u003ccite>(Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The landmark \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/sce/sierra-club-california/PDFs/CEQA_Fact_Sheet.pdf\">1970 environmental regulation\u003c/a>, pronounced \u003cem>sea-kwah\u003c/em> in the state’s housing parlance, requires developers to study potential negative impacts for all kinds of projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the half-century since its passage, it’s become a lightning rod in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.califaep.org/docs/CEQA_and_Housing_Report_1-30-19.pdf\">housing debate\u003c/a> — fiercely defended by those who say it has \u003ca href=\"https://ceja.org/what-we-do/green-zones/ceqa-and-housing-development/#:~:text=While%20CEQA%20%E2%80%9Cstreamlining%E2%80%9D%20policies%20have,state's%20housing%20and%20affordability%20crisis.\">very little impact on development\u003c/a> and blasted by those who claim it’s been \u003ca href=\"https://cayimby.org/blog/how-nimbys-hijacked-ceqa/\">hijacked and distorted\u003c/a> to NIMBYists’ ends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regan described Wicks’ bill as a “blanket exemption” from the hotly-debated law that gives infill development — housing built within existing urban areas — a “fighting chance to get through the process.”[aside postID=news_12031813 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240409-SJEncampmentBan-045-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']A representative of the California Environmental Justice Alliance, which \u003ca href=\"https://ceja.org/what-we-do/green-zones/ceqa-case-studies/\">supports robust CEQA protections\u003c/a>, said the organization was still digesting the bill package and deferred comment to a later date.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Debates over those two bills, however, will likely be rivaled by discussions over a separate yet \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/03/california-coastal-commission-protections/\">equally\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/06/coastal-housing-protections-california-debate/\">contentious\u003c/a> subject within California housing politics: the Coastal Commission. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB357\">AB 357\u003c/a> by Asm. David Alvarez, D-Chula Vista, would allow public colleges and universities to forgo commission approval before building student or faculty and staff housing on its properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvarez anticipates there’ll be pushback but said the proposal was “the minimum” policymakers could do to address \u003ca href=\"https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/03/29/housing-demand-far-exceeds-supply-california-colleges#:~:text=In%20California%2C%20where%20public%20in,year%20institution%20or%20graduate%20school.\">rising student\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/the-fastest-growing-college-expense-may-not-be-what-people-think/#:~:text=Yet%20neighborhood%20opposition%2C%20zoning%20restrictions,per%20year%20to%203%2C500%20students.&text=%E2%80%9CI%20expect%20you're%20going,monthly%20rent%20there%20is%20%242%2C299.\">housing costs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody’s saying that you don’t have to go through a process, you do,” Alvarez said of his bill. “Go through the regular process that everybody else goes through, but not the additional process of review by the Coastal Commission.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There will likely be dissent from both state and local governments, too, over bills that impact them, Wicks said, but she welcomed it. “We’re gonna have some really important conversations this year that may touch on some third-rail politics in California,” Wicks said, “but I think it’s time that we have them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Improving the process\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The bulk of the bills are less likely to draw the same kind of attention and are focused on reforming the state’s byzantine permitting processes, which vary from city to city and agency to agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1294\">AB 1294\u003c/a>, from San Francisco Democratic Asm. Matt Haney seeks to smooth some of that variability by requiring the state’s housing department to craft a simplified, universal application, making it easier for developers to operate in a wider range of jurisdictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027566\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027566\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Matt Haney speaks during a press conference announcing legislation to increase nightlife in Downtown San Francisco to help the recovery of the neighborhood, in Union Square, San Francisco, on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We have far too complex of a system for folks who want to build new homes in California,” Haney said. “There are still many cities and counties across the state that ask you for all sorts of things up front that cost huge sums of money, take a ton of time and make it very complex and complicated to build new homes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for the League of California Cities declined to comment, saying the organization is “still reviewing the bill package in its totality and considering its potential impact on local governments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fifteen of the bills aim to improve two other crucial steps in the permitting process: the entitlement and post-entitlement phases, when government agencies give developers the green light to move forward with a proposed project and then supply them with the permits to actually begin building.[aside postID=news_12032734 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/005_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-1020x680.jpg']Within that cadre, there are two bills — \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB920\">AB 920\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB489\">SB 489\u003c/a> — that require either larger cities or state agencies, respectively, to post certain information online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others — such as \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1007\">AB 1007\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1026\">AB 1026\u003c/a> — shorten the time it takes to approve or deny housing applications or building permits for local governments or investor-owned utilities, respectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Corey Smith, executive director of the pro-housing lobbying group, Housing Action Coalition, which is sponsoring AB 1026, described the bill as a “good governance measure” aimed at “getting parity across the board for permit reviews.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB557\">AB 557\u003c/a> expedites factory-built housing by allowing the state, which already conducts building inspections on modular homes, to also oversee installations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All told, Dan Dunmoyer, president and CEO of the California Building Industry Association, which is sponsoring at least seven bills in the package, said most are not “rock-the-world” bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are chipping away at all the different layers that local governments in the state and others have added,” he said. “There isn’t an omnibus fix-it bill, but there are a collection of measures to, in fact, improve the overarching process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED housing reporter \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/abandlamudi\">\u003cem>Adhiti Bandlamudi\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When it comes to building California out of its \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/LAOEconTax/Article/Detail/793\">housing shortage\u003c/a>, some lawmakers say the devil is most often in the details.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To begin untangling what they describe as a knotted web of regulation, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, on Thursday announced an ambitious and wide-ranging package of more than 20 bills from over a dozen authors. Together, the package seeks to surgically remove red tape at nearly every stage of the permitting journey, from application through construction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The goal, Wicks said, is “clearer rules when it comes to housing, faster timelines and fewer bureaucratic hoops.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The package, which includes at least one Republican-authored bill, is mostly technical in nature: cleaning up or extending prior legislation, expanding existing law to additional agencies and closing loopholes. However, it also includes several proposals that touch on third-rail topics in California, including bills to streamline or exempt certain housing projects from environmental or Coastal Commission review.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This bill package represents iteration,” Wicks said of the overall vision. “Taking a deep dive into the weeds and trying to understand what have been the hurdles? Why has this been so hard? Why is it so difficult to actually permit housing and entitle housing and get it up and running?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wicks led that deep dive last year, when she helmed an \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/committees/1470#bills-and-hearings\">Assembly Select Committee\u003c/a> that invited practitioners, experts and others to share their experiences and describe the barriers that come with building new housing, transit and clean energy projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11914459\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11914459\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/05/Buffy-Wicks-scaled-e1652831452424.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1371\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Buffy Wicks speaks on the floor of the state Assembly in January 2020. \u003ccite>(Krishnia Parker/California State Assembly Democratic Caucus)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Wicks’ report on the committee’s findings, released \u003ca href=\"https://a14.asmdc.org/sites/a14.asmdc.org/files/2025-02/assemblyselectcommitteeonpermittingreform-finalreportwithoutappendices-march2025.pdf\">earlier this month\u003c/a>, outlined a goal: that permitting — any “decision point” where a government must give permission for a new project to proceed — should be timely, transparent and consistently applied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, perhaps above all, the report noted, it should result in actually getting the project built.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve become victims in California of making the process the objective; the process is sacred,” said Matt Regan, a policy lead at the business-oriented Bay Area Council, which helped facilitate the hearings, tours and interviews that informed the committee’s white paper. “What [Wicks is] saying is maybe, the end product is more important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Republican Asm. Josh Hoover, of Folsom, said there’s a lot in the package with which people in his party can agree. Hoover pins some of the blame for California’s spiraling home costs on an “anti-housing majority” that overregulated the industry into gridlock and said this bill package is a welcome retreat from that trend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So, I’ve actually really appreciated the work Asm. Wicks is doing because she really is pushing back against a lot of that,” he said. “The only way we’re actually going to build the homes that we need in California is by reforming a lot of these things and getting rid of a lot of these barriers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Third-rail politics\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While many of the bills in the package are more narrowly focused on the minutiae of the state’s permitting labyrinths, others take aim at issues long seen as sacrosanct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of Wicks’ own bills, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB609\">AB 609\u003c/a>, would exempt infill housing projects, if they’re consistent with local regulations, from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Another bill, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB607\">SB 607\u003c/a> from Democratic San Francisco state Sen. Scott Wiener, removes what proponents describe as duplicative work that’s currently required under CEQA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033318\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12033318 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Bay-Meadows-Sales-Sign.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Bay-Meadows-Sales-Sign.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Bay-Meadows-Sales-Sign-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Bay-Meadows-Sales-Sign-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Bay-Meadows-Sales-Sign-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Bay-Meadows-Sales-Sign-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Bay-Meadows-Sales-Sign-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bay Meadows, San Mateo’s largest new development, is transforming a former racetrack into a vibrant community with 1,100 new housing units, commercial spaces, parks and a high school — all still under construction — on Jan. 20, 2015. \u003ccite>(Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The landmark \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/sce/sierra-club-california/PDFs/CEQA_Fact_Sheet.pdf\">1970 environmental regulation\u003c/a>, pronounced \u003cem>sea-kwah\u003c/em> in the state’s housing parlance, requires developers to study potential negative impacts for all kinds of projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in the half-century since its passage, it’s become a lightning rod in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.califaep.org/docs/CEQA_and_Housing_Report_1-30-19.pdf\">housing debate\u003c/a> — fiercely defended by those who say it has \u003ca href=\"https://ceja.org/what-we-do/green-zones/ceqa-and-housing-development/#:~:text=While%20CEQA%20%E2%80%9Cstreamlining%E2%80%9D%20policies%20have,state's%20housing%20and%20affordability%20crisis.\">very little impact on development\u003c/a> and blasted by those who claim it’s been \u003ca href=\"https://cayimby.org/blog/how-nimbys-hijacked-ceqa/\">hijacked and distorted\u003c/a> to NIMBYists’ ends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regan described Wicks’ bill as a “blanket exemption” from the hotly-debated law that gives infill development — housing built within existing urban areas — a “fighting chance to get through the process.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A representative of the California Environmental Justice Alliance, which \u003ca href=\"https://ceja.org/what-we-do/green-zones/ceqa-case-studies/\">supports robust CEQA protections\u003c/a>, said the organization was still digesting the bill package and deferred comment to a later date.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Debates over those two bills, however, will likely be rivaled by discussions over a separate yet \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2024/03/california-coastal-commission-protections/\">equally\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/06/coastal-housing-protections-california-debate/\">contentious\u003c/a> subject within California housing politics: the Coastal Commission. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB357\">AB 357\u003c/a> by Asm. David Alvarez, D-Chula Vista, would allow public colleges and universities to forgo commission approval before building student or faculty and staff housing on its properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alvarez anticipates there’ll be pushback but said the proposal was “the minimum” policymakers could do to address \u003ca href=\"https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/03/29/housing-demand-far-exceeds-supply-california-colleges#:~:text=In%20California%2C%20where%20public%20in,year%20institution%20or%20graduate%20school.\">rising student\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/the-fastest-growing-college-expense-may-not-be-what-people-think/#:~:text=Yet%20neighborhood%20opposition%2C%20zoning%20restrictions,per%20year%20to%203%2C500%20students.&text=%E2%80%9CI%20expect%20you're%20going,monthly%20rent%20there%20is%20%242%2C299.\">housing costs\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody’s saying that you don’t have to go through a process, you do,” Alvarez said of his bill. “Go through the regular process that everybody else goes through, but not the additional process of review by the Coastal Commission.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There will likely be dissent from both state and local governments, too, over bills that impact them, Wicks said, but she welcomed it. “We’re gonna have some really important conversations this year that may touch on some third-rail politics in California,” Wicks said, “but I think it’s time that we have them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Improving the process\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The bulk of the bills are less likely to draw the same kind of attention and are focused on reforming the state’s byzantine permitting processes, which vary from city to city and agency to agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1294\">AB 1294\u003c/a>, from San Francisco Democratic Asm. Matt Haney seeks to smooth some of that variability by requiring the state’s housing department to craft a simplified, universal application, making it easier for developers to operate in a wider range of jurisdictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027566\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027566\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/250218-SFDowntown-14-BL-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assemblymember Matt Haney speaks during a press conference announcing legislation to increase nightlife in Downtown San Francisco to help the recovery of the neighborhood, in Union Square, San Francisco, on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We have far too complex of a system for folks who want to build new homes in California,” Haney said. “There are still many cities and counties across the state that ask you for all sorts of things up front that cost huge sums of money, take a ton of time and make it very complex and complicated to build new homes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for the League of California Cities declined to comment, saying the organization is “still reviewing the bill package in its totality and considering its potential impact on local governments.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fifteen of the bills aim to improve two other crucial steps in the permitting process: the entitlement and post-entitlement phases, when government agencies give developers the green light to move forward with a proposed project and then supply them with the permits to actually begin building.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Within that cadre, there are two bills — \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB920\">AB 920\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB489\">SB 489\u003c/a> — that require either larger cities or state agencies, respectively, to post certain information online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others — such as \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1007\">AB 1007\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1026\">AB 1026\u003c/a> — shorten the time it takes to approve or deny housing applications or building permits for local governments or investor-owned utilities, respectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Corey Smith, executive director of the pro-housing lobbying group, Housing Action Coalition, which is sponsoring AB 1026, described the bill as a “good governance measure” aimed at “getting parity across the board for permit reviews.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB557\">AB 557\u003c/a> expedites factory-built housing by allowing the state, which already conducts building inspections on modular homes, to also oversee installations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All told, Dan Dunmoyer, president and CEO of the California Building Industry Association, which is sponsoring at least seven bills in the package, said most are not “rock-the-world” bills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are chipping away at all the different layers that local governments in the state and others have added,” he said. “There isn’t an omnibus fix-it bill, but there are a collection of measures to, in fact, improve the overarching process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED housing reporter \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/abandlamudi\">\u003cem>Adhiti Bandlamudi\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "‘It’s a Mess’: Homeless Services Nonprofits Say Oakland Routinely Fails to Pay Contracts",
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"headTitle": "‘It’s a Mess’: Homeless Services Nonprofits Say Oakland Routinely Fails to Pay Contracts | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 12:07 p.m. Tuesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year without pay. Millions in debt. Months without a contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those are some of the allegations from homelessness services providers in Oakland that have surfaced since one nonprofit nearly had to shut down two shelters this month. Its experience is shining a spotlight on a broken repayment system that’s thwarting the city’s ability to address one of its most pressing problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/news/city-of-oakland-opens-100-bed-cabin-shelter-program-at-wood-street\">Wood Street Community Cabins\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.self-sufficiency.org/rvpark#:~:text=The%20Wood%20Street%20RV%20Safe,support%20to%20find%20permanent%20housing.\">RV safe parking\u003c/a> sites in West Oakland, which consist of 100 cabin beds and 40 RV spots, are slated to close at the end of June but were nearly forced to shut down three months early, after the city missed some five months of payments to the nonprofit running the sites, Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonprofits say BOSS’ experience is only the latest example of an ongoing struggle that has them operating under the weight of massive debt as they wait on the city to reimburse them for housing and feeding its most vulnerable residents. And it’s those residents who are hurt most as they contend with subpar living conditions at some sites that are exacerbated by the stymied cash flow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No one really knows exactly what’s going on,” John Janosko, a former resident of the Wood Street Cabins, said during a Monday press conference outside the shelters, where advocates rebuked the city and lobbied to take over the sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12032760\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12032760\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/016_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/016_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/016_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/016_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/016_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/016_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/016_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tiny homes trucked into the Wood Street Cabin Community, a planned 100-bed shelter program on the second portion of the Game Changer lot located at 2601 Wood St., in Oakland, on Dec. 16, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He said muddled information has left residents uncertain of when they’ll need to find alternative housing, with some expecting to leave in a matter of weeks and others circulating rumors the site may run through the end of the year. According to BOSS, there are currently 70 people living in either the cabins or at the RV site. Of those, 41 are still awaiting a housing placement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bottom line is we don’t know, so we’re basically here to help uplift and support our family,” Janosko said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BOSS CEO Donald Frazier said he issued layoff notices to staff last week in preparation to shut down at the end of March after repeated and increasingly urgent requests for payment went unaddressed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was only after the layoff notices went out that city officials sat down with Frazier and provided assurances the city would make good on its debt. In all, Frazier said the city owes BOSS about $900,000 through April and that the organization will need another $480,000 to fund the programs through June.[aside postID=news_12030792 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_SanFrancisco_Housing_07292021_qed-1020x680.jpg']“We’ll see,” he said. “Until the money is in our hands, I won’t be content.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sean Maher, a spokesperson for the city of Oakland, said in a statement to KQED that staff is working on solutions to “bring the city’s outstanding payments to BOSS up to current, as well as identifying solutions to support the programs’ operations to the end of June.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a Friday meeting, officials with the City Administrator’s Office told Frazier they would provide the back pay owed for November through January within 10 days. As a result, Frazier said he would rescind the layoff notices and inform staff of the June closure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This will allow critical time for identifying options for the residents currently being served by both programs,” Maher said, adding that those options would be finalized over the next several days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on Monday, some cabin residents said they had little sense of where they’d end up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ll go stay in a tent if it comes to that,” said Jared Defigh, who’s been living at the site for about two years. “I might get housed before then, it’s hard to say.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12032761\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12032761\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/012_KQED_WoodStreetCommonsEviction_04102023_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/012_KQED_WoodStreetCommonsEviction_04102023_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/012_KQED_WoodStreetCommonsEviction_04102023_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/012_KQED_WoodStreetCommonsEviction_04102023_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/012_KQED_WoodStreetCommonsEviction_04102023_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/012_KQED_WoodStreetCommonsEviction_04102023_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/012_KQED_WoodStreetCommonsEviction_04102023_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Wood Street resident tours the Tuff Sheds near the Wood Street encampment in Oakland on April 10, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Late payments from local governments and the state are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/10/nonprofit-reimbursements/\">a thorn in the side of services providers around California\u003c/a>, with some large organizations regularly waiting on tens of millions of dollars in reimbursement at any given time. However, local nonprofits say the lags in Oakland are extreme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED spoke with three other local nonprofit providers who said payment delays make it particularly challenging to operate in the city. While a typical wait time is two to three months, one leader estimates Oakland takes nearly twice as long to pay. Another said it’s not unusual for the city to run a year behind on payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roots Community Health CEO Noha Aboelata said that for the second year in a row, the city has racked up a million-dollar debt with the nonprofit. She and other CEOs, including some who declined to speak on record, said that while the situation long predates Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027537/oakland-budget-crisis-leads-nonprofit-cuts-leaving-social-services-limbo\">current budget crisis\u003c/a>, it’s only gotten worse. And, Aboelata said the delays now extend to the contracting process itself, meaning organizations are often working for months without contracts in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without a contract in place, you can’t invoice,” she said. “So the delays have gotten incredibly lengthy.”[aside postID=news_12031813 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240409-SJEncampmentBan-045-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']In a statement, Maher said the city values its service providers and welcomes feedback “on ways we can collaboratively improve our work together, including in our contracting, invoicing, and payments processes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aboelata said she understands the city is in a fiscal crisis and is willing to work through it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But we really do need clarity,” she said, echoing the frustration over poor communication with the city that the other CEOs expressed. “Every week we’re not knowing what’s going to happen next or what we’re going to be told, or what we are going to find, so it does create kind of an instability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That instability also breeds inefficiency, leaders said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For BOSS, that means taking out a line of credit to cover operating costs, resulting in added interest payments that will most likely get passed on to taxpayers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And residents say it also manifests as mismanagement and subpar conditions at the shelters themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They didn’t have toilet paper, they didn’t have drinking water,” said a former resident of the Wood Street Cabins and advocate who goes by Freeway. “The facilities were constantly non-functioning as they are right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t even have shower heads anymore,” Defigh said. “There might be sewage coming out of that bathroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frazier acknowledged those challenges, though he said the sewage issue had been addressed. With cashflow severely limited, he said BOSS struggled to maintain the shelters, leading to health and safety concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12032924\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12032924 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/004_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/004_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/004_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/004_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/004_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/004_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/004_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A small home is transported to the Wood Street Cabin Community, a planned 100-bed shelter program on the second section of the Game Changer lot at 2601 Wood St. in Oakland, on Dec. 16, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There were tremendous problems,” he said. “All that was a direct result of not having funds to do all the existing maintenance and some deferred maintenance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25867210-letter-to-city-administrator-1/\">In a February letter (PDF)\u003c/a> to City Administrator Jestin Johnson, Frazier alerted officials that delays had “significantly impacted clients, staff wages and limited our ability to accept new clients.” The letter lists an estimated $130,000–$150,000 worth of necessary maintenance, including mold testing, remediation and repairs to over two dozen units. One charred cabin needed removing, according to the letter; others needed new locks, doors, floors and windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email accompanying the letter, Frazier called the conditions at the cabins “unconscionable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Staff and participants’ health and safety are at risk,” he wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That pressure ultimately led the city to reimburse BOSS for payments owed from September and October of last year, he said, but the organization hasn’t been paid since then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a mess,” Frazier said. “It strains the entire agency. It’s like stretching a rubber band — how far can you stretch it before it pops?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Homeless services providers say they’re struggling under the weight of massive debt as they wait on the city of Oakland to reimburse them for housing and feeding its most vulnerable residents. And it’s those residents who are hurt most.",
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"title": "‘It’s a Mess’: Homeless Services Nonprofits Say Oakland Routinely Fails to Pay Contracts | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 12:07 p.m. Tuesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year without pay. Millions in debt. Months without a contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those are some of the allegations from homelessness services providers in Oakland that have surfaced since one nonprofit nearly had to shut down two shelters this month. Its experience is shining a spotlight on a broken repayment system that’s thwarting the city’s ability to address one of its most pressing problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/news/city-of-oakland-opens-100-bed-cabin-shelter-program-at-wood-street\">Wood Street Community Cabins\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.self-sufficiency.org/rvpark#:~:text=The%20Wood%20Street%20RV%20Safe,support%20to%20find%20permanent%20housing.\">RV safe parking\u003c/a> sites in West Oakland, which consist of 100 cabin beds and 40 RV spots, are slated to close at the end of June but were nearly forced to shut down three months early, after the city missed some five months of payments to the nonprofit running the sites, Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonprofits say BOSS’ experience is only the latest example of an ongoing struggle that has them operating under the weight of massive debt as they wait on the city to reimburse them for housing and feeding its most vulnerable residents. And it’s those residents who are hurt most as they contend with subpar living conditions at some sites that are exacerbated by the stymied cash flow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No one really knows exactly what’s going on,” John Janosko, a former resident of the Wood Street Cabins, said during a Monday press conference outside the shelters, where advocates rebuked the city and lobbied to take over the sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12032760\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12032760\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/016_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/016_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/016_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/016_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/016_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/016_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/016_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tiny homes trucked into the Wood Street Cabin Community, a planned 100-bed shelter program on the second portion of the Game Changer lot located at 2601 Wood St., in Oakland, on Dec. 16, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He said muddled information has left residents uncertain of when they’ll need to find alternative housing, with some expecting to leave in a matter of weeks and others circulating rumors the site may run through the end of the year. According to BOSS, there are currently 70 people living in either the cabins or at the RV site. Of those, 41 are still awaiting a housing placement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The bottom line is we don’t know, so we’re basically here to help uplift and support our family,” Janosko said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BOSS CEO Donald Frazier said he issued layoff notices to staff last week in preparation to shut down at the end of March after repeated and increasingly urgent requests for payment went unaddressed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was only after the layoff notices went out that city officials sat down with Frazier and provided assurances the city would make good on its debt. In all, Frazier said the city owes BOSS about $900,000 through April and that the organization will need another $480,000 to fund the programs through June.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We’ll see,” he said. “Until the money is in our hands, I won’t be content.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sean Maher, a spokesperson for the city of Oakland, said in a statement to KQED that staff is working on solutions to “bring the city’s outstanding payments to BOSS up to current, as well as identifying solutions to support the programs’ operations to the end of June.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a Friday meeting, officials with the City Administrator’s Office told Frazier they would provide the back pay owed for November through January within 10 days. As a result, Frazier said he would rescind the layoff notices and inform staff of the June closure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This will allow critical time for identifying options for the residents currently being served by both programs,” Maher said, adding that those options would be finalized over the next several days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on Monday, some cabin residents said they had little sense of where they’d end up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ll go stay in a tent if it comes to that,” said Jared Defigh, who’s been living at the site for about two years. “I might get housed before then, it’s hard to say.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12032761\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12032761\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/012_KQED_WoodStreetCommonsEviction_04102023_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/012_KQED_WoodStreetCommonsEviction_04102023_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/012_KQED_WoodStreetCommonsEviction_04102023_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/012_KQED_WoodStreetCommonsEviction_04102023_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/012_KQED_WoodStreetCommonsEviction_04102023_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/012_KQED_WoodStreetCommonsEviction_04102023_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/012_KQED_WoodStreetCommonsEviction_04102023_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Wood Street resident tours the Tuff Sheds near the Wood Street encampment in Oakland on April 10, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Late payments from local governments and the state are \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/10/nonprofit-reimbursements/\">a thorn in the side of services providers around California\u003c/a>, with some large organizations regularly waiting on tens of millions of dollars in reimbursement at any given time. However, local nonprofits say the lags in Oakland are extreme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED spoke with three other local nonprofit providers who said payment delays make it particularly challenging to operate in the city. While a typical wait time is two to three months, one leader estimates Oakland takes nearly twice as long to pay. Another said it’s not unusual for the city to run a year behind on payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roots Community Health CEO Noha Aboelata said that for the second year in a row, the city has racked up a million-dollar debt with the nonprofit. She and other CEOs, including some who declined to speak on record, said that while the situation long predates Oakland’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12027537/oakland-budget-crisis-leads-nonprofit-cuts-leaving-social-services-limbo\">current budget crisis\u003c/a>, it’s only gotten worse. And, Aboelata said the delays now extend to the contracting process itself, meaning organizations are often working for months without contracts in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without a contract in place, you can’t invoice,” she said. “So the delays have gotten incredibly lengthy.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In a statement, Maher said the city values its service providers and welcomes feedback “on ways we can collaboratively improve our work together, including in our contracting, invoicing, and payments processes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aboelata said she understands the city is in a fiscal crisis and is willing to work through it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But we really do need clarity,” she said, echoing the frustration over poor communication with the city that the other CEOs expressed. “Every week we’re not knowing what’s going to happen next or what we’re going to be told, or what we are going to find, so it does create kind of an instability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That instability also breeds inefficiency, leaders said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For BOSS, that means taking out a line of credit to cover operating costs, resulting in added interest payments that will most likely get passed on to taxpayers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And residents say it also manifests as mismanagement and subpar conditions at the shelters themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They didn’t have toilet paper, they didn’t have drinking water,” said a former resident of the Wood Street Cabins and advocate who goes by Freeway. “The facilities were constantly non-functioning as they are right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t even have shower heads anymore,” Defigh said. “There might be sewage coming out of that bathroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frazier acknowledged those challenges, though he said the sewage issue had been addressed. With cashflow severely limited, he said BOSS struggled to maintain the shelters, leading to health and safety concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12032924\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12032924 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/004_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/004_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/004_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/004_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/004_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/004_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/004_KQED_WoodStreet_12162022_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A small home is transported to the Wood Street Cabin Community, a planned 100-bed shelter program on the second section of the Game Changer lot at 2601 Wood St. in Oakland, on Dec. 16, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There were tremendous problems,” he said. “All that was a direct result of not having funds to do all the existing maintenance and some deferred maintenance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25867210-letter-to-city-administrator-1/\">In a February letter (PDF)\u003c/a> to City Administrator Jestin Johnson, Frazier alerted officials that delays had “significantly impacted clients, staff wages and limited our ability to accept new clients.” The letter lists an estimated $130,000–$150,000 worth of necessary maintenance, including mold testing, remediation and repairs to over two dozen units. One charred cabin needed removing, according to the letter; others needed new locks, doors, floors and windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email accompanying the letter, Frazier called the conditions at the cabins “unconscionable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Staff and participants’ health and safety are at risk,” he wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That pressure ultimately led the city to reimburse BOSS for payments owed from September and October of last year, he said, but the organization hasn’t been paid since then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a mess,” Frazier said. “It strains the entire agency. It’s like stretching a rubber band — how far can you stretch it before it pops?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Suisun City will formally start talks with surrounding landowners — including California Forever — as it explores whether to expand its borders, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029950/rio-vista-explores-annexing-some-california-forevers-land\">following a similar move\u003c/a> from Rio Vista earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Suisun City Council voted 4–1 on Tuesday to direct the city manager to issue \u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/3208151/GB_-_Letter_for_Annexation_2025.pdf\">letters\u003c/a> to almost\u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/3208152/Attachment_Landowner_Contact_Information.pdf\"> 30 neighboring landowners\u003c/a>, whose approval the city will need to proceed with annexation. Councilmember Princess Washington, \u003ca href=\"https://www.solanotogether.org/post/press-solano-together-opposes-california-forever\">a vocal critic\u003c/a> of California Forever, cast the only dissenting vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are hard decisions that are going to come ahead, but we need to be open-minded, listening to all the perspectives from those members,” Mayor Alma Hernandez said. “We are requesting members of the community to stay engaged with us in this process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City leaders hope annexation could help bolster the city’s declining revenues. However, opponents worry that the move would allow the billionaire-backed company to build its planned city of \u003ca href=\"https://californiaforever.com/the-bold-city-project-of-the-tech-elite/\">up to 400,000 new residents\u003c/a> without first getting approval from county voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California Forever proposes the ninth largest city in California in our county, and the supposition is that you are empowering them to do that,” resident Jim DeKloe said during Tuesday’s meeting. “We have this principle that unincorporated county [land] will not be urban. They are trying to throw a bomb in that, and you are enabling them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano County’s \u003ca href=\"https://solanoorderlygrowth.org/flannery\">Orderly Growth Initiative\u003c/a> requires voters to sign off before California Forever can move forward with building on what is now agricultural land. However, that requirement could change if its development is incorporated into an existing city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029959\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029959\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-88-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-88-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-88-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-88-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-88-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-88-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-88-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sheep graze on farmland west of Rio Vista on May 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Solano residents were scheduled to vote on the plan in November, but the company \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996747/california-forever-pulls-bid-to-build-new-city-from-this-years-ballot\">pulled its initiative from the ballot\u003c/a> months before the election. Its leaders have since \u003ca href=\"https://californiaforever.com/joint-statement-by-solano-county-and-california-forever/\">vowed\u003c/a> to publish an environmental impact report and development agreement before bringing the proposal back to voters next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, Rio Vista joined Suisun City in exploring whether to annex some of California Forever’s land. With roughly 60,000 acres sandwiched between the two cities, California Forever — through its subsidiary, Flannery Associates — is the county’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/vacaville/farmers-refuse-sell-to-flannery-associates/103-e02f38f9-8093-43a5-8dc2-79a9b0a98ed6#:~:text=%E2%80%94%20Flannery%20Associates%2C%20investors%20in%20the,land%20owners%20in%20the%20county.\">largest landholder\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But while Rio Vista Mayor Edwin Okamura said the council’s decision was “all about just getting to the table” to potentially negotiate with the company and protect the city’s quaint character, Suisun City leaders hope annexation might help secure the city’s financial future.[aside postID=news_12029950 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-52-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']According to City Manager Bret \u003ca href=\"https://city-suisun-city-ca-budget-book.cleargov.com/17152/introduction/transmittal-letter\">Prebula\u003c/a>, it had to use 40% of its reserves last year to avoid cuts to essential services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That year, voters approved \u003ca href=\"https://www.suisun.com/Government/Citizen-Governance/Measure-S-Oversight-Committee/Measure-S-The-Basics\">Measure S\u003c/a>, a 1.75% sales tax, which is set to go into effect next month. But, even with the additional revenue, Suisun City is still facing a more than $2 million shortfall in its general fund this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To help generate income for the city, \u003ca href=\"https://www.suisun.com/News-articles/20250305Suisun-City-Adopts-Economic-Development-Strategy-and-Implementation-Plan\">the council earlier this month approved an economic development plan\u003c/a> that focuses on residential and commercial development within its existing boundaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/suisuncitycitycalifornia,US/PST045224\">just over 4 square miles\u003c/a>, Prebula said, even if the city built more infill housing and retail spaces, those buildings could only be built so tall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no more optionality for us,” he said. “We are absolutely going to do infill at the highest, best and most fast way we can, but that will not be sustainable for decades, so we need to explore expanding our borders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the meeting, some residents welcomed the idea and wondered if the move could improve the city’s access to jobs and housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody is saying not to do this — what are we afraid of? Making money in our own town, bringing revenue into our city?” asked Mitchell Megary, a lifelong resident of Suisun City. “I wish I could work somewhere and go home 20 minutes away, but I can’t do that because it’s so expensive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Suisun City will formally start talks with surrounding landowners — including California Forever — as it explores whether to expand its borders, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029950/rio-vista-explores-annexing-some-california-forevers-land\">following a similar move\u003c/a> from Rio Vista earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Suisun City Council voted 4–1 on Tuesday to direct the city manager to issue \u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/3208151/GB_-_Letter_for_Annexation_2025.pdf\">letters\u003c/a> to almost\u003ca href=\"https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/3208152/Attachment_Landowner_Contact_Information.pdf\"> 30 neighboring landowners\u003c/a>, whose approval the city will need to proceed with annexation. Councilmember Princess Washington, \u003ca href=\"https://www.solanotogether.org/post/press-solano-together-opposes-california-forever\">a vocal critic\u003c/a> of California Forever, cast the only dissenting vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are hard decisions that are going to come ahead, but we need to be open-minded, listening to all the perspectives from those members,” Mayor Alma Hernandez said. “We are requesting members of the community to stay engaged with us in this process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City leaders hope annexation could help bolster the city’s declining revenues. However, opponents worry that the move would allow the billionaire-backed company to build its planned city of \u003ca href=\"https://californiaforever.com/the-bold-city-project-of-the-tech-elite/\">up to 400,000 new residents\u003c/a> without first getting approval from county voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California Forever proposes the ninth largest city in California in our county, and the supposition is that you are empowering them to do that,” resident Jim DeKloe said during Tuesday’s meeting. “We have this principle that unincorporated county [land] will not be urban. They are trying to throw a bomb in that, and you are enabling them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano County’s \u003ca href=\"https://solanoorderlygrowth.org/flannery\">Orderly Growth Initiative\u003c/a> requires voters to sign off before California Forever can move forward with building on what is now agricultural land. However, that requirement could change if its development is incorporated into an existing city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029959\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029959\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-88-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-88-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-88-BL_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-88-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-88-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-88-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240502-CaliforniaForever-88-BL_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sheep graze on farmland west of Rio Vista on May 2, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Solano residents were scheduled to vote on the plan in November, but the company \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996747/california-forever-pulls-bid-to-build-new-city-from-this-years-ballot\">pulled its initiative from the ballot\u003c/a> months before the election. Its leaders have since \u003ca href=\"https://californiaforever.com/joint-statement-by-solano-county-and-california-forever/\">vowed\u003c/a> to publish an environmental impact report and development agreement before bringing the proposal back to voters next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, Rio Vista joined Suisun City in exploring whether to annex some of California Forever’s land. With roughly 60,000 acres sandwiched between the two cities, California Forever — through its subsidiary, Flannery Associates — is the county’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.abc10.com/article/news/local/vacaville/farmers-refuse-sell-to-flannery-associates/103-e02f38f9-8093-43a5-8dc2-79a9b0a98ed6#:~:text=%E2%80%94%20Flannery%20Associates%2C%20investors%20in%20the,land%20owners%20in%20the%20county.\">largest landholder\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But while Rio Vista Mayor Edwin Okamura said the council’s decision was “all about just getting to the table” to potentially negotiate with the company and protect the city’s quaint character, Suisun City leaders hope annexation might help secure the city’s financial future.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>According to City Manager Bret \u003ca href=\"https://city-suisun-city-ca-budget-book.cleargov.com/17152/introduction/transmittal-letter\">Prebula\u003c/a>, it had to use 40% of its reserves last year to avoid cuts to essential services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That year, voters approved \u003ca href=\"https://www.suisun.com/Government/Citizen-Governance/Measure-S-Oversight-Committee/Measure-S-The-Basics\">Measure S\u003c/a>, a 1.75% sales tax, which is set to go into effect next month. But, even with the additional revenue, Suisun City is still facing a more than $2 million shortfall in its general fund this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To help generate income for the city, \u003ca href=\"https://www.suisun.com/News-articles/20250305Suisun-City-Adopts-Economic-Development-Strategy-and-Implementation-Plan\">the council earlier this month approved an economic development plan\u003c/a> that focuses on residential and commercial development within its existing boundaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/suisuncitycitycalifornia,US/PST045224\">just over 4 square miles\u003c/a>, Prebula said, even if the city built more infill housing and retail spaces, those buildings could only be built so tall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no more optionality for us,” he said. “We are absolutely going to do infill at the highest, best and most fast way we can, but that will not be sustainable for decades, so we need to explore expanding our borders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the meeting, some residents welcomed the idea and wondered if the move could improve the city’s access to jobs and housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody is saying not to do this — what are we afraid of? Making money in our own town, bringing revenue into our city?” asked Mitchell Megary, a lifelong resident of Suisun City. “I wish I could work somewhere and go home 20 minutes away, but I can’t do that because it’s so expensive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "San José Council Gives Initial Approval to Mayor’s Controversial Homelessness and Pay Plans",
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"content": "\u003cp>San José Mayor Matt Mahan’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029843/san-jose-mayor-pushes-to-arrest-unhoused-who-refuse-shelter\">controversial plans on homelessness\u003c/a> and City Hall pay won initial approval from the city council on Tuesday night after a long and tense meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council approved Mahan’s preliminary budget for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026772/san-jose-faces-60-million-budget-shortfall-as-negotiations-begin\">upcoming fiscal year\u003c/a>, which includes his proposal to arrest people experiencing homelessness who refuse three offers of shelter. The idea set off hours of heated discussion among residents and council members, suggesting the proposal will continue to stir debate before the council takes a final vote in June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a working six-vote majority on the council — at least until a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030375/san-jose-district-3-special-election-whos-running-and-how-to-vote\">special election\u003c/a> next month — Mahan is pursuing his most ambitious spending plan since taking office in 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond the idea he has dubbed “Responsibility to Shelter,” Mahan is proposing a 2026 ballot measure to tie council and mayoral pay raises to performance metrics. His budget also includes a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026437/san-jose-mayor-proposes-permanent-shift-homeless-funding-from-housing-shelter\">shift in funding\u003c/a> away from affordable housing toward interim housing and shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will not be able to maintain the trust of our community and continue to spend tens of millions of dollars a year to invest in interim housing … if we cannot prove to [residents] that it allows us to resolve the homeless encampments that have caused so much harm to the broader community,” Mahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031248\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031248\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-04-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan is interviewed for Political Breakdown at the KQED offices in San Francisco on March 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The budget framework, known as the March Budget Message, was approved on a 7-4 vote, with Councilmembers Rosemary Kamei, Bien Doan, Pam Foley, Michael Mulcahy, George Casey and Carl Salas joining Mahan in support. Councilmembers David Cohen, Peter Ortiz, Domingo Candelas and Pamela Campos voted against the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan’s plan to impose penalties for refusing shelter has ignited a firestorm in South Bay politics, \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/alex_lee/status/1898122536560603485\">drawing criticism\u003c/a> from state Assemblymembers Alex Lee and Ash Kalra, as well as members of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Opponents argue that it will leave unhoused people with damaging criminal records and sap city resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the short term, I worry about the impact this will have on emergency services who are already overburdened,” Ortiz said. “Officers are constantly forced to prioritize, to triage emergencies in the field. I’m just nervous about adding another responsibility to the police force.”[aside postID=news_12029843 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240620-AffordableHousingPresser-10-BL_qed-1-1020x680.jpg']The city operates more than 1,000 shelter spaces, including tiny homes and converted motels, and hundreds more units are expected to open this year. The facilities are in high demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent report from city staff found that just 541 people out of the estimated 5,477 who are living without shelter in the city are “program-resistant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But crucially, the mayor and council have pledged to maintain no-encampment zones around new interim housing sites, which Mahan described as a key carrot for gaining neighborhood support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan said his proposal on pay raises is part of his vision to “deliver the outcomes our residents are demanding and to build trust in government.” If approved by voters, the Salary Setting Commission would align raises (beyond the cost of living) to the city’s progress on council-approved goals, such as reducing homelessness and crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cohen said the program could lead future councils to prioritize short-term benchmarks or manipulate goals to ensure higher pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015960\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12015960\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clusters of tents belonging to unhoused residents line the banks of Coyote Creek near Tully Road on Jan. 4, 2023, in San José, California. \u003ccite>(Dai Sugano/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We might say our current council wouldn’t do that, but going to the voters and changing it is a permanent change,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both the homeless enforcement and council pay measures will be voted on separately from the rest of the budget in June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city faces an estimated $45.6 million shortfall in the fiscal year beginning July 1. Mahan is proposing to largely close the gap by shifting dedicated homeless funding away from building permanent affordable housing to cover the city’s interim housing costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fate of funding created by Measure E, a 2020 real estate transfer tax, has been central to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989926/san-jose-council-approves-budget-with-historic-shift-in-unhoused-spending\">budget debates\u003c/a> for the past two years. Now, Mahan is pushing to permanently allocate up to 90% for interim housing and shelter, with 10% going to homeless prevention programs like rental assistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a hundred residents lined up to speak at Tuesday’s meeting, with most focused on the more than 5,000 people experiencing homelessness in San José. Deborah Brown urged the council and Mahan to put aside their differences and work with urgency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tonight, someone will be out there, freezing to death or sick and helpless, and my hope is that you as a unit, who the city has given you the permission to run this city, that you will take those funds that you have and get this problem solved,” Brown said. “I know you can do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "San José Mayor Matt Mahan’s preliminary budget plan includes a 2026 ballot measure to tie council and mayoral pay raises to performance metrics.",
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"title": "San José Council Gives Initial Approval to Mayor’s Controversial Homelessness and Pay Plans | KQED",
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"headline": "San José Council Gives Initial Approval to Mayor’s Controversial Homelessness and Pay Plans",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San José Mayor Matt Mahan’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12029843/san-jose-mayor-pushes-to-arrest-unhoused-who-refuse-shelter\">controversial plans on homelessness\u003c/a> and City Hall pay won initial approval from the city council on Tuesday night after a long and tense meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council approved Mahan’s preliminary budget for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026772/san-jose-faces-60-million-budget-shortfall-as-negotiations-begin\">upcoming fiscal year\u003c/a>, which includes his proposal to arrest people experiencing homelessness who refuse three offers of shelter. The idea set off hours of heated discussion among residents and council members, suggesting the proposal will continue to stir debate before the council takes a final vote in June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a working six-vote majority on the council — at least until a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030375/san-jose-district-3-special-election-whos-running-and-how-to-vote\">special election\u003c/a> next month — Mahan is pursuing his most ambitious spending plan since taking office in 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond the idea he has dubbed “Responsibility to Shelter,” Mahan is proposing a 2026 ballot measure to tie council and mayoral pay raises to performance metrics. His budget also includes a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026437/san-jose-mayor-proposes-permanent-shift-homeless-funding-from-housing-shelter\">shift in funding\u003c/a> away from affordable housing toward interim housing and shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will not be able to maintain the trust of our community and continue to spend tens of millions of dollars a year to invest in interim housing … if we cannot prove to [residents] that it allows us to resolve the homeless encampments that have caused so much harm to the broader community,” Mahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031248\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031248\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-04-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-04-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-04-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-04-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-04-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-04-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250312-MATT-MAHAN-ON-PB-MD-04-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan is interviewed for Political Breakdown at the KQED offices in San Francisco on March 13, 2025. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The budget framework, known as the March Budget Message, was approved on a 7-4 vote, with Councilmembers Rosemary Kamei, Bien Doan, Pam Foley, Michael Mulcahy, George Casey and Carl Salas joining Mahan in support. Councilmembers David Cohen, Peter Ortiz, Domingo Candelas and Pamela Campos voted against the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan’s plan to impose penalties for refusing shelter has ignited a firestorm in South Bay politics, \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/alex_lee/status/1898122536560603485\">drawing criticism\u003c/a> from state Assemblymembers Alex Lee and Ash Kalra, as well as members of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Opponents argue that it will leave unhoused people with damaging criminal records and sap city resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the short term, I worry about the impact this will have on emergency services who are already overburdened,” Ortiz said. “Officers are constantly forced to prioritize, to triage emergencies in the field. I’m just nervous about adding another responsibility to the police force.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The city operates more than 1,000 shelter spaces, including tiny homes and converted motels, and hundreds more units are expected to open this year. The facilities are in high demand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent report from city staff found that just 541 people out of the estimated 5,477 who are living without shelter in the city are “program-resistant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But crucially, the mayor and council have pledged to maintain no-encampment zones around new interim housing sites, which Mahan described as a key carrot for gaining neighborhood support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan said his proposal on pay raises is part of his vision to “deliver the outcomes our residents are demanding and to build trust in government.” If approved by voters, the Salary Setting Commission would align raises (beyond the cost of living) to the city’s progress on council-approved goals, such as reducing homelessness and crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cohen said the program could lead future councils to prioritize short-term benchmarks or manipulate goals to ensure higher pay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12015960\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12015960\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/SantaClaraCountyHomelessnessGetty1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clusters of tents belonging to unhoused residents line the banks of Coyote Creek near Tully Road on Jan. 4, 2023, in San José, California. \u003ccite>(Dai Sugano/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We might say our current council wouldn’t do that, but going to the voters and changing it is a permanent change,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both the homeless enforcement and council pay measures will be voted on separately from the rest of the budget in June.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city faces an estimated $45.6 million shortfall in the fiscal year beginning July 1. Mahan is proposing to largely close the gap by shifting dedicated homeless funding away from building permanent affordable housing to cover the city’s interim housing costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fate of funding created by Measure E, a 2020 real estate transfer tax, has been central to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989926/san-jose-council-approves-budget-with-historic-shift-in-unhoused-spending\">budget debates\u003c/a> for the past two years. Now, Mahan is pushing to permanently allocate up to 90% for interim housing and shelter, with 10% going to homeless prevention programs like rental assistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a hundred residents lined up to speak at Tuesday’s meeting, with most focused on the more than 5,000 people experiencing homelessness in San José. Deborah Brown urged the council and Mahan to put aside their differences and work with urgency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Tonight, someone will be out there, freezing to death or sick and helpless, and my hope is that you as a unit, who the city has given you the permission to run this city, that you will take those funds that you have and get this problem solved,” Brown said. “I know you can do it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "san-francisco-considers-pausing-empty-homes-tax",
"title": "San Francisco Considers Pausing Empty Homes Tax",
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"headTitle": "San Francisco Considers Pausing Empty Homes Tax | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is scheduled to consider pausing the collection of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11930303/should-sf-and-berkeley-tax-empty-homes-following-oaklands-lead\">a tax on vacant homes\u003c/a> amidst ongoing litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://thefrisc.com/its-high-time-to-slay-the-myth-of-all-those-vacant-san-francisco-homes-2efd50728d8/\">Supporters\u003c/a> of the tax \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/bayarea/comments/skw0ub/more_than_40000_vacant_homes_in_san_francisco_20/\">often\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DDkWzxxv1qQ/\">point\u003c/a> to vacancy rates as a contributing factor to the city’s high home prices. And in 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11931327/heres-every-bay-area-housing-measure-on-the-ballot-tomorrow\">voters approved\u003c/a> the \u003ca href=\"https://sftreasurer.org/business/taxes-fees/empty-homes-tax-eht\">Empty Homes Tax\u003c/a> to open vacant units for new renters and owners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would have \u003ca href=\"https://digitalsf.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A218071?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=baca753a092dbebb3e9b&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=0\">levied stiff penalties \u003c/a>for owners holding units vacant, ranging between $2,500 to $5,000 per unit, depending on its size. If the apartment was kept vacant for three or more consecutive years, an owner could pay up to the maximum penalty of $20,000 per unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first filings were slated to be due at the end of April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, a few months after voters approved the tax, \u003ca href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/small-realty-vs-san-francisco-complaint-.pdf\">groups representing property owners sued the city\u003c/a>, claiming it violated their constitutional rights. And, in November, a superior court judge agreed, \u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/jnswire/jns-media/2e/60/19799276/NORCAL_PropM_unconstitutional_ruling_11-26-24.pdf\">ruling the Empty Homes Tax is unconstitutional\u003c/a> and violates \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&division=7.&title=1.&part=&chapter=12.75.&article=\">California’s Ellis Act\u003c/a>, which bars any public entity, including a city, from forcing a property owner to offer accommodations for rent or lease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The right to exclude people from your property has long been considered one of the most fundamental aspects of property ownership,” said Jeremy Talcott, a property rights attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation. “In essence, this forces people to open up their private property to a third party.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031680\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031680\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-22_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-22_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-22_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-22_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-22_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-22_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-22_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The view looking west from the 100 Van Ness building rooftop in San Francisco on June 30, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The court ordered the city to stop enforcing or administering the tax. In a statement, Alex Barrett-Shorter, a spokesperson for City Attorney David Chiu, said the city was “disappointed by the trial court’s decision.” Last year, the city \u003ca href=\"https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=1&doc_id=3119880&doc_no=A172067&request_token=NiIwLSEnTkw%2BWzBFSCFNWE5IIEw6UVxfJCI%2BRzxSQCAgCg%3D%3D\">appealed\u003c/a> and is scheduled to \u003ca href=\"https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/scheduledActions.cfm?dist=1&doc_id=3119880&doc_no=A172067&request_token=NiIwLSEnTkw%2BWzBFSCFNWE5IIEw6UVxfJCI%2BRzxSQCAgCg%3D%3D\">present opening arguments\u003c/a> in April, even as opponents have vowed to keep fighting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors was scheduled to consider pausing the tax until a year after a final decision is made on the tax’s legality, but Supervisor Jackie Fielder asked to continue the item until this week’s meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her staff told KQED she wanted to understand whether the city could start collecting the tax if a lower court ruled in the city’s favor but ultimately decided against it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11930303 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/10/RS59672_017_KQED_BerkeleyMeasureM_10262022-qut-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston, a vocal proponent of the tax, said it was meant to target large corporate landlords and real estate spectators who might purchase homes but hold them off the market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The concern of all the advocates behind [the tax] was these properties where the homes just aren’t being used as homes for people,” he said. “They’re being used like shares of stock in the stock market for real estate investors to buy them and hold them for years and then resell them at higher values for profit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to an October 2022 \u003ca href=\"https://56a418ca-94d2-476c-9a45-f491ca4a0387.usrfiles.com/ugd/56a418_8ba58b3bef6543b0ad09ce81a0ef037c.pdf\">city report\u003c/a>, which used data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, there were more than 60,000 San Francisco housing units considered vacant in 2021, though that statistic includes homes that are temporarily vacant because a tenant hasn’t moved in yet, the home is undergoing repairs or the property is caught in legal proceedings, among other reasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tax \u003ca href=\"https://sftreasurer.org/file/empty-homes-tax-presentation/download?inline\">would have applied to\u003c/a> buildings with three or more units if the unit was kept vacant for more than 182 days in a calendar year. Single-family homes, duplexes and units occupied by travelers or vacationers would be exempt. And it allowed for vacancies during periods of construction, repairs, disasters or if the owner died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031683\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031683\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"857\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-800x343.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1020x437.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-160x69.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1536x658.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1920x823.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A row of homes on Capp Street, between 22nd and 23rd streets, in San Francisco’s Mission District. \u003ccite>(Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/BLA.Residential%20Vacancies.013122_final.pdf\">In an earlier report from January 2022 (PDF)\u003c/a>, the city assumed fewer than a fifth of San Francisco’s vacant homes would be subject to the tax, and it could collect a little more than $61 million per year in net revenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents argued the tax would ultimately \u003ca href=\"https://www.smallprop.org/press/supervisor-prestons-proposed-vacancy-tax-measure-would-place-a-hefty-tax/\">apply to fewer units\u003c/a> than the city predicted and \u003ca href=\"https://tsfaction.org/prop-m\">wouldn’t address\u003c/a> barriers to constructing new housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steven Huang, president of the San Francisco Association of Realtors, said the tax was an “unfair punishment on homeowners disallowed by the courts.” The organization was one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The solution at hand is not the right one because the courts said so,” he said. “The right move should be to go back to the drawing board and craft something that actually solves the problem rather than going down a path that they’ve been told is not the right one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031686\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031686\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_KQED_SanFrancisco_Covid19_04072020_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_KQED_SanFrancisco_Covid19_04072020_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_KQED_SanFrancisco_Covid19_04072020_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_KQED_SanFrancisco_Covid19_04072020_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_KQED_SanFrancisco_Covid19_04072020_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_KQED_SanFrancisco_Covid19_04072020_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_KQED_SanFrancisco_Covid19_04072020_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Empty streets in downtown San Francisco on April 7, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Out of the homes that were considered vacant in 2021, the city found that \u003ca href=\"https://56a418ca-94d2-476c-9a45-f491ca4a0387.usrfiles.com/ugd/56a418_8ba58b3bef6543b0ad09ce81a0ef037c.pdf\">more than 16%\u003c/a> were occupied seasonally or recreationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those are truly pied-à-terres,” said Sarah Karlinsky, research director with the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley. She authored \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/sites/default/files/2014-10/SPUR_Non-Primary_Residences.pdf\">a study on vacancy rates (PDF)\u003c/a> almost a decade before San Francisco voted on the Empty Homes Tax.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In it, she found that there were nearly 900 homes that were sold but unoccupied in 2012. By 2021, that number had grown to more than 10,270, representing about 2.5% of the city’s total housing stock at the time, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://56a418ca-94d2-476c-9a45-f491ca4a0387.usrfiles.com/ugd/56a418_8ba58b3bef6543b0ad09ce81a0ef037c.pdf\">city’s report\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not a ton of units, but it’s also not insignificant during a period where we’re having a housing crisis,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s tax was modeled after one Vancouver voters passed in 2016, which reduced the vacancy rate by more than 20% and generated more than $20 million for affordable housing in its first year, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/voter-guide/2022-11/sf-prop-m-vacant-homes\">an analysis\u003c/a> by the urban planning think tank, SPUR. The following year, SPUR researchers found that the percentage of vacant homes in Vancouver continued to decrease, albeit at a much lower rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031689\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031689\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/470165429_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/470165429_qed-1.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/470165429_qed-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/470165429_qed-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/470165429_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/470165429_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/470165429_qed-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A bicyclist rides by a row of homes on Feb. 18, 2014, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>However, when it came to the tax’s impact on housing affordability, Vancouver officials found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-08-16/taxing-the-rich-do-housing-prices-fall-when-empty-second-homes-are-taxed\">there were fewer vacant units\u003c/a> than they had initially expected, and it didn’t have an impact on housing costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other Bay Area cities, including Berkeley and Oakland, have passed similar taxes. \u003ca href=\"https://rentboard.berkeleyca.gov/laws-regulations/city-berkeley-ordinances-affecting-rental-properties/empty-homes-tax\">Berkeley\u003c/a>’s tax, which voters approved the same year as San Francisco’s, has not been billed to property owners yet, though the \u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Measure%20M%20-%20November%208%2C%202022%20Election.pdf\">city estimated (PDF)\u003c/a> it could generate up to $5.9 million annually. \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/vacantpropertytax\">Oakland’s tax\u003c/a>, which voters approved in 2018 and covers all properties, levies an annual tax of up to $3,000 per vacant home and $6,000 per parcel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6722176&GUID=40CFF307-9BED-4270-A81A-301C09FE9FD6&Options=&Search=\">As of June 2024\u003c/a>, Oakland had collected an average of $5.53 million per year in revenue, but it has \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6854943&GUID=0A065116-182B-4C8C-A135-1D1BCA26E210&Options=&Search=\">not resulted in a decrease in vacant properties\u003c/a> since 2019, when the city began collecting the tax.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of the legal proceedings, San Francisco hasn’t been able to test whether the tax could impact home prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even if a lower court allows the city to start collecting the tax, Amanda Fried, a spokesperson for San Francisco’s Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector, said the process would still be complicated because many property owners would have to file paperwork for the tax, even if their property isn’t vacant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Similar to your income taxes with the IRS, you’re required to file every year, even if you don’t owe anything,” she said. “It would have been difficult to implement this tax without a lawsuit, but if there’s still uncertainty, trying to convince 80,000 property owners that they need to go online and file a piece of paper that their property isn’t vacant is a lot. It’s hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "In 2022, San Francisco voters approved a tax meant to open up housing units that were otherwise vacant. But the tax has been held up in litigation, and city officials haven’t been able to implement it yet. ",
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"title": "San Francisco Considers Pausing Empty Homes Tax | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is scheduled to consider pausing the collection of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11930303/should-sf-and-berkeley-tax-empty-homes-following-oaklands-lead\">a tax on vacant homes\u003c/a> amidst ongoing litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://thefrisc.com/its-high-time-to-slay-the-myth-of-all-those-vacant-san-francisco-homes-2efd50728d8/\">Supporters\u003c/a> of the tax \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/bayarea/comments/skw0ub/more_than_40000_vacant_homes_in_san_francisco_20/\">often\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DDkWzxxv1qQ/\">point\u003c/a> to vacancy rates as a contributing factor to the city’s high home prices. And in 2022, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11931327/heres-every-bay-area-housing-measure-on-the-ballot-tomorrow\">voters approved\u003c/a> the \u003ca href=\"https://sftreasurer.org/business/taxes-fees/empty-homes-tax-eht\">Empty Homes Tax\u003c/a> to open vacant units for new renters and owners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would have \u003ca href=\"https://digitalsf.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A218071?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=baca753a092dbebb3e9b&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=0\">levied stiff penalties \u003c/a>for owners holding units vacant, ranging between $2,500 to $5,000 per unit, depending on its size. If the apartment was kept vacant for three or more consecutive years, an owner could pay up to the maximum penalty of $20,000 per unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first filings were slated to be due at the end of April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, a few months after voters approved the tax, \u003ca href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/small-realty-vs-san-francisco-complaint-.pdf\">groups representing property owners sued the city\u003c/a>, claiming it violated their constitutional rights. And, in November, a superior court judge agreed, \u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/jnswire/jns-media/2e/60/19799276/NORCAL_PropM_unconstitutional_ruling_11-26-24.pdf\">ruling the Empty Homes Tax is unconstitutional\u003c/a> and violates \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&division=7.&title=1.&part=&chapter=12.75.&article=\">California’s Ellis Act\u003c/a>, which bars any public entity, including a city, from forcing a property owner to offer accommodations for rent or lease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The right to exclude people from your property has long been considered one of the most fundamental aspects of property ownership,” said Jeremy Talcott, a property rights attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation. “In essence, this forces people to open up their private property to a third party.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031680\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031680\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-22_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-22_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-22_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-22_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-22_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-22_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-22_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The view looking west from the 100 Van Ness building rooftop in San Francisco on June 30, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The court ordered the city to stop enforcing or administering the tax. In a statement, Alex Barrett-Shorter, a spokesperson for City Attorney David Chiu, said the city was “disappointed by the trial court’s decision.” Last year, the city \u003ca href=\"https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=1&doc_id=3119880&doc_no=A172067&request_token=NiIwLSEnTkw%2BWzBFSCFNWE5IIEw6UVxfJCI%2BRzxSQCAgCg%3D%3D\">appealed\u003c/a> and is scheduled to \u003ca href=\"https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/scheduledActions.cfm?dist=1&doc_id=3119880&doc_no=A172067&request_token=NiIwLSEnTkw%2BWzBFSCFNWE5IIEw6UVxfJCI%2BRzxSQCAgCg%3D%3D\">present opening arguments\u003c/a> in April, even as opponents have vowed to keep fighting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors was scheduled to consider pausing the tax until a year after a final decision is made on the tax’s legality, but Supervisor Jackie Fielder asked to continue the item until this week’s meeting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her staff told KQED she wanted to understand whether the city could start collecting the tax if a lower court ruled in the city’s favor but ultimately decided against it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston, a vocal proponent of the tax, said it was meant to target large corporate landlords and real estate spectators who might purchase homes but hold them off the market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The concern of all the advocates behind [the tax] was these properties where the homes just aren’t being used as homes for people,” he said. “They’re being used like shares of stock in the stock market for real estate investors to buy them and hold them for years and then resell them at higher values for profit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to an October 2022 \u003ca href=\"https://56a418ca-94d2-476c-9a45-f491ca4a0387.usrfiles.com/ugd/56a418_8ba58b3bef6543b0ad09ce81a0ef037c.pdf\">city report\u003c/a>, which used data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, there were more than 60,000 San Francisco housing units considered vacant in 2021, though that statistic includes homes that are temporarily vacant because a tenant hasn’t moved in yet, the home is undergoing repairs or the property is caught in legal proceedings, among other reasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tax \u003ca href=\"https://sftreasurer.org/file/empty-homes-tax-presentation/download?inline\">would have applied to\u003c/a> buildings with three or more units if the unit was kept vacant for more than 182 days in a calendar year. Single-family homes, duplexes and units occupied by travelers or vacationers would be exempt. And it allowed for vacancies during periods of construction, repairs, disasters or if the owner died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031683\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031683\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"857\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-800x343.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1020x437.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-160x69.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1536x658.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Houses_in_San_Francisco_qed-1920x823.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A row of homes on Capp Street, between 22nd and 23rd streets, in San Francisco’s Mission District. \u003ccite>(Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/BLA.Residential%20Vacancies.013122_final.pdf\">In an earlier report from January 2022 (PDF)\u003c/a>, the city assumed fewer than a fifth of San Francisco’s vacant homes would be subject to the tax, and it could collect a little more than $61 million per year in net revenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents argued the tax would ultimately \u003ca href=\"https://www.smallprop.org/press/supervisor-prestons-proposed-vacancy-tax-measure-would-place-a-hefty-tax/\">apply to fewer units\u003c/a> than the city predicted and \u003ca href=\"https://tsfaction.org/prop-m\">wouldn’t address\u003c/a> barriers to constructing new housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steven Huang, president of the San Francisco Association of Realtors, said the tax was an “unfair punishment on homeowners disallowed by the courts.” The organization was one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The solution at hand is not the right one because the courts said so,” he said. “The right move should be to go back to the drawing board and craft something that actually solves the problem rather than going down a path that they’ve been told is not the right one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031686\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031686\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_KQED_SanFrancisco_Covid19_04072020_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_KQED_SanFrancisco_Covid19_04072020_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_KQED_SanFrancisco_Covid19_04072020_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_KQED_SanFrancisco_Covid19_04072020_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_KQED_SanFrancisco_Covid19_04072020_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_KQED_SanFrancisco_Covid19_04072020_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/001_KQED_SanFrancisco_Covid19_04072020_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Empty streets in downtown San Francisco on April 7, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Out of the homes that were considered vacant in 2021, the city found that \u003ca href=\"https://56a418ca-94d2-476c-9a45-f491ca4a0387.usrfiles.com/ugd/56a418_8ba58b3bef6543b0ad09ce81a0ef037c.pdf\">more than 16%\u003c/a> were occupied seasonally or recreationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those are truly pied-à-terres,” said Sarah Karlinsky, research director with the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley. She authored \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/sites/default/files/2014-10/SPUR_Non-Primary_Residences.pdf\">a study on vacancy rates (PDF)\u003c/a> almost a decade before San Francisco voted on the Empty Homes Tax.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In it, she found that there were nearly 900 homes that were sold but unoccupied in 2012. By 2021, that number had grown to more than 10,270, representing about 2.5% of the city’s total housing stock at the time, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://56a418ca-94d2-476c-9a45-f491ca4a0387.usrfiles.com/ugd/56a418_8ba58b3bef6543b0ad09ce81a0ef037c.pdf\">city’s report\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not a ton of units, but it’s also not insignificant during a period where we’re having a housing crisis,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco’s tax was modeled after one Vancouver voters passed in 2016, which reduced the vacancy rate by more than 20% and generated more than $20 million for affordable housing in its first year, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/voter-guide/2022-11/sf-prop-m-vacant-homes\">an analysis\u003c/a> by the urban planning think tank, SPUR. The following year, SPUR researchers found that the percentage of vacant homes in Vancouver continued to decrease, albeit at a much lower rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031689\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031689\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/470165429_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/470165429_qed-1.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/470165429_qed-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/470165429_qed-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/470165429_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/470165429_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/470165429_qed-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A bicyclist rides by a row of homes on Feb. 18, 2014, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>However, when it came to the tax’s impact on housing affordability, Vancouver officials found that \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-08-16/taxing-the-rich-do-housing-prices-fall-when-empty-second-homes-are-taxed\">there were fewer vacant units\u003c/a> than they had initially expected, and it didn’t have an impact on housing costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other Bay Area cities, including Berkeley and Oakland, have passed similar taxes. \u003ca href=\"https://rentboard.berkeleyca.gov/laws-regulations/city-berkeley-ordinances-affecting-rental-properties/empty-homes-tax\">Berkeley\u003c/a>’s tax, which voters approved the same year as San Francisco’s, has not been billed to property owners yet, though the \u003ca href=\"https://berkeleyca.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Measure%20M%20-%20November%208%2C%202022%20Election.pdf\">city estimated (PDF)\u003c/a> it could generate up to $5.9 million annually. \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/vacantpropertytax\">Oakland’s tax\u003c/a>, which voters approved in 2018 and covers all properties, levies an annual tax of up to $3,000 per vacant home and $6,000 per parcel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6722176&GUID=40CFF307-9BED-4270-A81A-301C09FE9FD6&Options=&Search=\">As of June 2024\u003c/a>, Oakland had collected an average of $5.53 million per year in revenue, but it has \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6854943&GUID=0A065116-182B-4C8C-A135-1D1BCA26E210&Options=&Search=\">not resulted in a decrease in vacant properties\u003c/a> since 2019, when the city began collecting the tax.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because of the legal proceedings, San Francisco hasn’t been able to test whether the tax could impact home prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even if a lower court allows the city to start collecting the tax, Amanda Fried, a spokesperson for San Francisco’s Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector, said the process would still be complicated because many property owners would have to file paperwork for the tax, even if their property isn’t vacant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Similar to your income taxes with the IRS, you’re required to file every year, even if you don’t owe anything,” she said. “It would have been difficult to implement this tax without a lawsuit, but if there’s still uncertainty, trying to convince 80,000 property owners that they need to go online and file a piece of paper that their property isn’t vacant is a lot. It’s hard.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "A First Look at SF Mayor Lurie’s Yearlong Plan on Homelessness Response",
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"headTitle": "A First Look at SF Mayor Lurie’s Yearlong Plan on Homelessness Response | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:37 p.m. Monday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Mayor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/daniel-lurie\">Daniel Lurie\u003c/a>’s plan to reshape San Francisco’s homelessness and mental health response begins to take form, he is set to sign an executive order on Monday aimed at restructuring the street outreach teams, consolidating bureaucracy in city services and potentially scaling back some harm reduction programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The yearlong plan announced Monday comes on top of Lurie’s earlier promises to build at least 1,500 shelter beds within his first six months in office, as well as the first major legislative effort of his term — a law \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025495/luries-fentanyl-response-clears-san-francisco-board-of-supervisors\">passed in February\u003c/a> giving him expanded authority to cut through bureaucracy and more quickly hire and contract out both homelessness and drug treatment services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie had made reducing San Francisco’s homeless population, estimated at more than 8,000 people, a key priority on the campaign trail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the heart of my administration’s strategy for improving conditions on the streets are our efforts to help people move into the treatment and care that they need,” Lurie said at a recent Board of Supervisors meeting where board members questioned his long-term plan for addressing street conditions, after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030060/after-2-raids-sf-police-say-theyll-follow-drug-markets-from-block-to-block\">two overnight law enforcement raids\u003c/a> at public spaces known for open drug use and sales. “We must strengthen and expand our behavioral health and homeless systems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dubbed “Breaking the Cycle,” the mayor’s new blueprint will first aim to consolidate the city’s 10 street outreach teams within the next 100 days. The teams provide critical services, including emergency medicine professionals responding to overdoses and outreach workers helping people into shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029042\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029042\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/123_1-scaled-e1740692245681.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"900\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Police officers carried out a sweeping drug market raid on the evening of Feb. 26, 2025, in Jefferson Square Park. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Sebastian Luke)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to overhaul how the city organizes our street outreach efforts, replacing a fragmented structure with neighborhood-based teams that have the tools to connect people to treatment while keeping our public spaces clean,” Lurie said at a press conference on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/110723%20Performance%20Audit%20of%20San%20Francisco%20Street%20Teams.pdf\">city audit published in 2023\u003c/a> found that the rapid expansion of the teams during the pandemic lacked coordination and consistent messaging. The audit also found that in the vast majority of cases, first responders are unable to connect people to services, the reason is a lack of shelter and housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Resource referral, connection, and transportation are distinguishing and essential functions of the city’s street teams, but the ability of street teams to fulfill this function is inherently limited by the underlying system of services to which street team members can refer clients,” the report reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the blueprint announced Monday, Lurie is still aiming to reach his 1,500-shelter bed goal within six months. However, the effort has already hit a few snags — the 116-resident Cova Hotel that opened during the pandemic for homeless residents recently shuttered, and other plans to expand shelter beds in two Tenderloin hotels have met backlash from neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12030060 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/240830-SFSideshowLegislation-21-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the next year, the city aims to use state and federal funding to increase shelter and other homeless services, according to Lurie’s announcement, as well as to overhaul data systems used to track clients and measure outcomes for the city’s homelessness response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie is also looking to review the city’s harm reduction services, an approach to health care \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911092/from-the-underground-to-public-health-policy-a-history-of-harm-reduction-in-san-francisco\">the city adopted after the HIV/AIDS crisis\u003c/a> that involves preventive efforts such as handing out cleaner supplies to reduce infection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While harm reduction is supported by public health officials and advocates as a life-saving method for reducing overdose risk and connecting drug users to service providers, it has become a polarizing fixture in the city’s debate over drug treatment and law enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are two people a day dying of overdose in our city. By any standard that is unacceptable, and what we’re doing is not working,” Lurie said Monday. He did not say which programs could downsize in particular. “Everything is going to be looked at, and things will change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kunal Modi, chief of health, homelessness and family services for the mayor’s office, recently posted on social media platform X that the city is also looking to invest in more sober living options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some recovery advocates have celebrated the push for more sobriety housing, saying it gives residents space to distance themselves from drug use, while others have pointed to state laws requiring permanent supportive housing to accept residents regardless of their drug use status. The idea is based on research showing people are more successful in their recovery if they have access to housing first rather than as a reward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/kunalmodi/status/1878458417033228372\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the Board of Supervisors passed Lurie’s Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance last month to expand his powers, the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026575/a-new-triage-center-opened-in-san-francisco-but-questions-remain\">set up a walk-in triage center\u003c/a> in the South of Market neighborhood to connect people to government programs and provide a police command station. The results, however, have been stunted by the city’s inability to provide longer-term treatment or shelter, city officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its successes, Modi posted, were “improved street conditions, cross-department collaboration, service placements and arrests.” But he said what didn’t work was that the city ran out of shelter and treatment beds daily, and outdoor drug markets were not eradicated but only displaced to other neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie is now planning to open up a second center at 822 Geary Street where first responders can drop off people in need of medical care, slated to open this spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:37 p.m. Monday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Mayor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/daniel-lurie\">Daniel Lurie\u003c/a>’s plan to reshape San Francisco’s homelessness and mental health response begins to take form, he is set to sign an executive order on Monday aimed at restructuring the street outreach teams, consolidating bureaucracy in city services and potentially scaling back some harm reduction programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The yearlong plan announced Monday comes on top of Lurie’s earlier promises to build at least 1,500 shelter beds within his first six months in office, as well as the first major legislative effort of his term — a law \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025495/luries-fentanyl-response-clears-san-francisco-board-of-supervisors\">passed in February\u003c/a> giving him expanded authority to cut through bureaucracy and more quickly hire and contract out both homelessness and drug treatment services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie had made reducing San Francisco’s homeless population, estimated at more than 8,000 people, a key priority on the campaign trail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the heart of my administration’s strategy for improving conditions on the streets are our efforts to help people move into the treatment and care that they need,” Lurie said at a recent Board of Supervisors meeting where board members questioned his long-term plan for addressing street conditions, after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030060/after-2-raids-sf-police-say-theyll-follow-drug-markets-from-block-to-block\">two overnight law enforcement raids\u003c/a> at public spaces known for open drug use and sales. “We must strengthen and expand our behavioral health and homeless systems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dubbed “Breaking the Cycle,” the mayor’s new blueprint will first aim to consolidate the city’s 10 street outreach teams within the next 100 days. The teams provide critical services, including emergency medicine professionals responding to overdoses and outreach workers helping people into shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029042\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029042\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/123_1-scaled-e1740692245681.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"900\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Police officers carried out a sweeping drug market raid on the evening of Feb. 26, 2025, in Jefferson Square Park. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Sebastian Luke)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We’re going to overhaul how the city organizes our street outreach efforts, replacing a fragmented structure with neighborhood-based teams that have the tools to connect people to treatment while keeping our public spaces clean,” Lurie said at a press conference on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://sfbos.org/sites/default/files/110723%20Performance%20Audit%20of%20San%20Francisco%20Street%20Teams.pdf\">city audit published in 2023\u003c/a> found that the rapid expansion of the teams during the pandemic lacked coordination and consistent messaging. The audit also found that in the vast majority of cases, first responders are unable to connect people to services, the reason is a lack of shelter and housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Resource referral, connection, and transportation are distinguishing and essential functions of the city’s street teams, but the ability of street teams to fulfill this function is inherently limited by the underlying system of services to which street team members can refer clients,” the report reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the blueprint announced Monday, Lurie is still aiming to reach his 1,500-shelter bed goal within six months. However, the effort has already hit a few snags — the 116-resident Cova Hotel that opened during the pandemic for homeless residents recently shuttered, and other plans to expand shelter beds in two Tenderloin hotels have met backlash from neighbors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the next year, the city aims to use state and federal funding to increase shelter and other homeless services, according to Lurie’s announcement, as well as to overhaul data systems used to track clients and measure outcomes for the city’s homelessness response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie is also looking to review the city’s harm reduction services, an approach to health care \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911092/from-the-underground-to-public-health-policy-a-history-of-harm-reduction-in-san-francisco\">the city adopted after the HIV/AIDS crisis\u003c/a> that involves preventive efforts such as handing out cleaner supplies to reduce infection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While harm reduction is supported by public health officials and advocates as a life-saving method for reducing overdose risk and connecting drug users to service providers, it has become a polarizing fixture in the city’s debate over drug treatment and law enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are two people a day dying of overdose in our city. By any standard that is unacceptable, and what we’re doing is not working,” Lurie said Monday. He did not say which programs could downsize in particular. “Everything is going to be looked at, and things will change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kunal Modi, chief of health, homelessness and family services for the mayor’s office, recently posted on social media platform X that the city is also looking to invest in more sober living options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some recovery advocates have celebrated the push for more sobriety housing, saying it gives residents space to distance themselves from drug use, while others have pointed to state laws requiring permanent supportive housing to accept residents regardless of their drug use status. The idea is based on research showing people are more successful in their recovery if they have access to housing first rather than as a reward.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>After the Board of Supervisors passed Lurie’s Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance last month to expand his powers, the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12026575/a-new-triage-center-opened-in-san-francisco-but-questions-remain\">set up a walk-in triage center\u003c/a> in the South of Market neighborhood to connect people to government programs and provide a police command station. The results, however, have been stunted by the city’s inability to provide longer-term treatment or shelter, city officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its successes, Modi posted, were “improved street conditions, cross-department collaboration, service placements and arrests.” But he said what didn’t work was that the city ran out of shelter and treatment beds daily, and outdoor drug markets were not eradicated but only displaced to other neighborhoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie is now planning to open up a second center at 822 Geary Street where first responders can drop off people in need of medical care, slated to open this spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 1:30 p.m. Friday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Scott Wiener is back with another bill to allow medium-rise apartment buildings near transit across California — his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11798945/__trashed-4\">fourth attempt\u003c/a> in seven years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB79\">SB 79\u003c/a> by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) would allow apartments up to seven stories tall within a quarter-mile of certain train stations. Allowable building heights would decrease farther from the train station or bus rapid transit stop, dropping to as low as four stories within a half-mile.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a Friday press conference outside the Daly City BART station, Wiener said the bill is aimed at boosting both housing and public transportation agencies across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It will offer more housing overall, and it will support our public transportation systems with increased revenue and increased ridership,” Wiener said. “We really need more housing, more and better transit, and the two truly go hand in hand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill echoes the ethos — if not all the myriad provisions — of SB 50, which failed to advance in early 2020 after an earlier iteration of the bill was held in committee the year prior. That bill built off SB 857, which was first introduced in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final version of SB 50 would have not only allowed four- and five-story apartment buildings near train stations, along major bus lines and in job-rich neighborhoods, but also duplexes and fourplexes in many single-family neighborhoods throughout the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener said the new bill is much more focused. It only applies to areas around train and ferry stations, along with stops for bus-rapid-transit, a type of bus that has dedicated travel lanes. Height limits scale down depending on the type of transit, so heavy rail and frequent commuter trains — such as BART, LA Metro subway, CalTrain and Burbank Metrolink — would have the tallest limits. The areas around ferries and less frequent commuter-rail services, such as Capitol Corridor, would have the lowest limits.[aside postID=news_11798945 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2019/04/RS25468_20170515_StateCapitol_Sen_ScottWeiner_credit_BertJohnson-2-qut-1020x680.jpg']“So it’s really focusing on our highest-quality transit,” Wiener said. “And I hope that in the future we have more of that highest-quality transit.” SB 50 faced major backlash from \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-california-sb50-failure-single-family-homes-suburbs-20190522-story.html\">suburban homeowners\u003c/a> worried about neighborhood change and advocates who were concerned that \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-housing-bill-failure-equity-groups-20180502-story.html\">lower-income residents would be evicted\u003c/a> as a result of increased development, among others. The California League of Cities took an “oppose unless amended” position because of provisions in the bill they said were too ambiguous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matthew Lewis, a spokesperson for the pro-housing lobbying group, CA YIMBY, said the latest iteration of the proposal is more straightforward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The main way to describe this that’s different from those that came before is that it’s a clean upzoning,” Lewis said. “It’s seven stories, and there’s no other conditions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, he said, other new laws, adopted in the intervening years, have since overridden or addressed other concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 9, by former state Sen. Toni Atkins, was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980785/these-california-companies-want-to-buy-your-backyard-and-build-a-house\">signed into law in 2021\u003c/a>. It allows homeowners to subdivide their lots and add up to two duplexes in most single-family neighborhoods. Another law, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB330\">SB 330\u003c/a> by former state Sen. Nancy Skinner requires developers offer tenants the right of first refusal in new apartments if they are displaced by development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The lens is different now because the legislative landscape is different than it was,” Lewis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shanti Singh, however, with advocacy group Tenants Together, said she isn’t convinced. Her organization opposed SB 50 over concerns that it would accelerate displacement of lower-income tenants. Although she hadn’t seen a draft of SB 79 when she spoke to KQED, she said the same concerns very likely still apply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have any objection to going after exclusionary communities or making housing easier to build. And we’re certainly not against the idea of buildings being tall,” Singh said. “It’s when you pick a fight with our communities, who desperately need affordable housing, who are facing eviction and displacement, that’s when we get involved.”[aside postID=news_11980785 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/03/240313-SB-9-SanJose-KSM-6_qut-1020x680.jpg']While the Legislature has, over nearly a decade, passed dozens of laws aimed at cutting regulatory red tape and boosting new construction, the bills largely \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/02/california-yimby-laws-assessment-report/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Are%20CA%20s%20housing%20laws%20building%20more%20homes%3F&utm_campaign=WhatMatters\">haven’t translated into meaningful increases\u003c/a> in new homes, Singh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What will make a difference, she said, is investing more money into building affordable housing. A $10 billion bond to do that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11993185/why-a-10-billion-california-housing-bond-wont-be-on-novembers-ballot\">failed to make it to the November ballot\u003c/a> last year, after facing competition from competing bonds. Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Berkeley) \u003ca href=\"https://a14.asmdc.org/press-releases/20250218-asm-wicks-and-sen-cabaldon-move-forward-tackle-crushing-housing-costs#:~:text=This%20year's%20bond%20proposals%20are,San%20Diego%20Mayor%20Todd%20Gloria.\">reintroduced the bond measure\u003c/a> in February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The issue is money,” Singh said. “We just want to keep hammering that point home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other bills have sought to streamline housing near transit. AB 2923, signed into law in 2018, provided some minimum standards for housing near BART stations in Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties. While that bill has helped the agency \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/about/business/tod\">develop housing\u003c/a> on land it owns, BART Director Edward Wright said it’s still too difficult to get new apartments approved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It lets BART do our own zoning for more homes, for more businesses,” Wright said. “And it lets us do it quickly, simply, and effectively. Not with months to process, but with a clear purpose.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, perhaps even more critically, Wright said, SB 79 could help boost ridership that \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/about/financials/crisis#:~:text=Ridership%20Trends,%25%20of%20pre%2Dpandemic%20expectations.&text=BART%20served%2050.7%20million%20trips,2.6%20million%20trips%20in%202024.\">hasn’t recovered\u003c/a> from the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It supports more homes near our stations, and that means more people taking our trains,” he said, “instead of clogging up our streets and our bridges with more cars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 1:30 p.m. Friday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Scott Wiener is back with another bill to allow medium-rise apartment buildings near transit across California — his \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11798945/__trashed-4\">fourth attempt\u003c/a> in seven years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB79\">SB 79\u003c/a> by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) would allow apartments up to seven stories tall within a quarter-mile of certain train stations. Allowable building heights would decrease farther from the train station or bus rapid transit stop, dropping to as low as four stories within a half-mile.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a Friday press conference outside the Daly City BART station, Wiener said the bill is aimed at boosting both housing and public transportation agencies across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It will offer more housing overall, and it will support our public transportation systems with increased revenue and increased ridership,” Wiener said. “We really need more housing, more and better transit, and the two truly go hand in hand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill echoes the ethos — if not all the myriad provisions — of SB 50, which failed to advance in early 2020 after an earlier iteration of the bill was held in committee the year prior. That bill built off SB 857, which was first introduced in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final version of SB 50 would have not only allowed four- and five-story apartment buildings near train stations, along major bus lines and in job-rich neighborhoods, but also duplexes and fourplexes in many single-family neighborhoods throughout the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener said the new bill is much more focused. It only applies to areas around train and ferry stations, along with stops for bus-rapid-transit, a type of bus that has dedicated travel lanes. Height limits scale down depending on the type of transit, so heavy rail and frequent commuter trains — such as BART, LA Metro subway, CalTrain and Burbank Metrolink — would have the tallest limits. The areas around ferries and less frequent commuter-rail services, such as Capitol Corridor, would have the lowest limits.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“So it’s really focusing on our highest-quality transit,” Wiener said. “And I hope that in the future we have more of that highest-quality transit.” SB 50 faced major backlash from \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-california-sb50-failure-single-family-homes-suburbs-20190522-story.html\">suburban homeowners\u003c/a> worried about neighborhood change and advocates who were concerned that \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-housing-bill-failure-equity-groups-20180502-story.html\">lower-income residents would be evicted\u003c/a> as a result of increased development, among others. The California League of Cities took an “oppose unless amended” position because of provisions in the bill they said were too ambiguous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Matthew Lewis, a spokesperson for the pro-housing lobbying group, CA YIMBY, said the latest iteration of the proposal is more straightforward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The main way to describe this that’s different from those that came before is that it’s a clean upzoning,” Lewis said. “It’s seven stories, and there’s no other conditions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, he said, other new laws, adopted in the intervening years, have since overridden or addressed other concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 9, by former state Sen. Toni Atkins, was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980785/these-california-companies-want-to-buy-your-backyard-and-build-a-house\">signed into law in 2021\u003c/a>. It allows homeowners to subdivide their lots and add up to two duplexes in most single-family neighborhoods. Another law, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB330\">SB 330\u003c/a> by former state Sen. Nancy Skinner requires developers offer tenants the right of first refusal in new apartments if they are displaced by development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The lens is different now because the legislative landscape is different than it was,” Lewis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shanti Singh, however, with advocacy group Tenants Together, said she isn’t convinced. Her organization opposed SB 50 over concerns that it would accelerate displacement of lower-income tenants. Although she hadn’t seen a draft of SB 79 when she spoke to KQED, she said the same concerns very likely still apply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have any objection to going after exclusionary communities or making housing easier to build. And we’re certainly not against the idea of buildings being tall,” Singh said. “It’s when you pick a fight with our communities, who desperately need affordable housing, who are facing eviction and displacement, that’s when we get involved.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>While the Legislature has, over nearly a decade, passed dozens of laws aimed at cutting regulatory red tape and boosting new construction, the bills largely \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/02/california-yimby-laws-assessment-report/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Are%20CA%20s%20housing%20laws%20building%20more%20homes%3F&utm_campaign=WhatMatters\">haven’t translated into meaningful increases\u003c/a> in new homes, Singh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What will make a difference, she said, is investing more money into building affordable housing. A $10 billion bond to do that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11993185/why-a-10-billion-california-housing-bond-wont-be-on-novembers-ballot\">failed to make it to the November ballot\u003c/a> last year, after facing competition from competing bonds. Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Berkeley) \u003ca href=\"https://a14.asmdc.org/press-releases/20250218-asm-wicks-and-sen-cabaldon-move-forward-tackle-crushing-housing-costs#:~:text=This%20year's%20bond%20proposals%20are,San%20Diego%20Mayor%20Todd%20Gloria.\">reintroduced the bond measure\u003c/a> in February.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The issue is money,” Singh said. “We just want to keep hammering that point home.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other bills have sought to streamline housing near transit. AB 2923, signed into law in 2018, provided some minimum standards for housing near BART stations in Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties. While that bill has helped the agency \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/about/business/tod\">develop housing\u003c/a> on land it owns, BART Director Edward Wright said it’s still too difficult to get new apartments approved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It lets BART do our own zoning for more homes, for more businesses,” Wright said. “And it lets us do it quickly, simply, and effectively. Not with months to process, but with a clear purpose.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, perhaps even more critically, Wright said, SB 79 could help boost ridership that \u003ca href=\"https://www.bart.gov/about/financials/crisis#:~:text=Ridership%20Trends,%25%20of%20pre%2Dpandemic%20expectations.&text=BART%20served%2050.7%20million%20trips,2.6%20million%20trips%20in%202024.\">hasn’t recovered\u003c/a> from the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It supports more homes near our stations, and that means more people taking our trains,” he said, “instead of clogging up our streets and our bridges with more cars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"soldout": {
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