2 weeks Ago By CBS Bay Area
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie unveiled a new upzoning plan that would allow larger, denser development across swaths of the city in an effort to close the affordable housing gap. The plan increases height limits near public transit routes, allowing 65-foot buildings on streets like California and Balboa and 85-foot buildings on Geary and Judah. The mayor said the plan could create as many as 36,000 housing units across the city.
It's a key part of the city's plan to meet ambitious housing goals laid out by the state, 82,000 units by 2031. Glen Park, a sleepy neighborhood bordering Bernal Heights, could see two 14-story apartment towers in vacant lots across from the BART station. Mike Schiraldi lives in the neighborhood and has advocated for more housing since he moved there.
"My friends can't live here. My daughter's friends are moving out of school," Schiraldi told CBS News Bay Area. Current zoning laws limit housing in Glen Park to 40 feet, about three to four stories high.
The mayor's plan would allow developments to reach 140 feet, precisely the height of two proposed apartment towers. Schiraldi said the plan is long overdue. "If we don't build, if we don't allow housing to be built in a site like this, where are we going to build it," Schiraldi said.
While housing advocates have praised the latest zoning map, others are worried about the impact on neighborhoods. "We need the housing. But a six-story building in an area that only has three or four stories is ridiculous," Passasani said.
Tony Passasani lives in West Portal, where zoning laws currently only allow buildings around 40 ft tall. He said anything higher than that won't fit the neighborhood's character. "Here in West Portal, there's already apartment buildings that are three or four stories high.
Why don't you put a few more of those in there," he said. But in a city that built fewer than 1,000 housing units last year, Schiraldi thinks this new plan is a good start..
