How SB 50 Could Affect YOU

To recap – Senator Scott Weiner‘s SB 50 will destroy both single-family neighborhoods and affordable apartments for up to eight-story luxury housing. This bill will radically transform San Francisco — the diversity of our neighborhoods and our population. It also strips us, the residents, of our ability to engage in the meaningful give-and-take process of planning and community-building. It gives luxury housing developers authority over zoning and planning and allows them to build taller, denser apartment blocks. For example, SB 50 would permit minimum heights of 55 feet for most of Dolores Heights (all lots within 1/4 mile of the J Church line or 45 feet for lots located between 1/4 and 1/2 mile of the J Church.) In exchange for including a small number of affordable units in their towers, developers can have additional height of up to 30 feet under the State Density Bonus Law. In sum, it gives San Francisco developers significant additional profit in return for no greater percentage of affordable housing in their projects.This is bad deal for San Francisco. We need more affordable housing for the 50% of San Franciscans who earn less than our average median income.We do not need more luxury housing; SF is currently building nearly double its state-set housing goal for market-rate (luxury) housing.