The Surprising Left-Right Alliance That Wants More Apartments in Suburbs

By Conor Dougherty : via email

The YIMBY movement isn’t just for liberals anymore. Legislators from both sides of the political divide are working to add duplexes and apartments to single-family neighborhoods.

Published March 2024 – Conor Dougherty has been covering Yimbytown since 2016 and is one of perhaps a half-dozen people to have attended every conference.

For years, the Yimbytown conference was an ideologically safe space where liberal young professionals could talk to other liberal young professionals about the particular problems of cities with a lot of liberal young professionals: not enough bike lanes and transit, too many restrictive zoning laws.

The event began in 2016 in Boulder, Colo., and has ever since revolved around a coalition of left and center Democrats who want to make America’s neighborhoods less exclusive and its housing more dense. (YIMBY, a pro-housing movement that is increasingly an identity, stands for “Yes in my backyard.”)

But the vibes and crowd were surprisingly different at this year’s meeting, which was held at the University of Texas at Austin in February. In addition to vegan lunches and name tags with preferred pronouns, the conference included — even celebrated — a group that had until recently been unwelcome: red-state Republicans.

The first day featured a speech on changing zoning laws by Greg Gianforte, the Republican governor of Montana, who last year signed a housing package that YIMBYs now refer to as “the Montana Miracle.” 

Day 2 kicked off with a panel on solutions to Texas’s rising housing costs. One of the speakers was a Republican legislator in Texas who, in addition to being an advocate for loosening land-use regulations, has pushed for a near-total ban on abortions.

Anyone who missed these discussions might have instead gone to the panel on bipartisanship where Republican housing reformers from Arizona and Montana talked with a Democratic state senator from Vermont. Or noticed the list of sponsors that, in addition to foundations like Open Philanthropy and Arnold Ventures, included conservative and libertarian organizations like the Mercatus Center, the American Enterprise Institute and the Pacific Legal Foundation.

“There aren’t many ideologically diverse spaces in American civil life at the moment, and one of the pillars of the conference was the idea of a big tent,” said Liz McGehee, one of Yimbytown’s organizers. “The more we can find areas of agreement, the more we can adjust to each other with less fear, and maybe that will help drive down the polarization.”…

San Francisco leaders, neighbors not on board with ‘ridiculous’ skyscraper for Outer Sunset District

ABC7 News Bay Area

Nobody seems to like this one.

Here is a gift to the Sunset from Assemblymember Haney who does not represent the district. After wreaking havoc of the East side of SF he is now aiming at the sedate West side.

AB 1114 – Planning and zoning: housing development projects: postentitlement phase permits.

…This bill would modify the definition of “postentitlement phase permit” to also include all building permits and other permits issued under the California Building Standards Code or any applicable local building code for the construction, demolition, or alteration of buildings, whether discretionary or nondiscretionary.

Existing law establishes time limits for completing reviews regarding whether an application for a postentitlement phase permit is complete and compliant, and whether to approve or deny an application, as specified, and makes any failure to meet these time limits a disapproval of the housing development project and a violation of the Housing Accountability Act…

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason... (more)

Comments:

Anybody care to explain this one that appears to be attacking cities and local communities and bankrupting them for some reason. As the developers fees are lifted and the state is no longer required to reimburse local communities for the infrastructure required to build the densely populated constructs, it will be up to the local communities and taxpayers to foot the bill.

Already the CPUC under Newsom’s approval has unleashed a new round of rate paying hikes to protect big energy from any loses due to their creased grid production.

If I got any of this wrong let me know. Otherwise we should seriously stop the state from any increased overreach and start with stopping this bill, which has taken on enormous powers and influence by what we thought was a fairly democratic state government. We are beginning to questions the purpose of these state mandates that are cutting away at our individual freedoms at an alarming pace.

Is this what they have in mind for our future? Skyscraper Proposed for 2700 Sloat Boulevard in Outer Sunset, San Francisco

Trouble selling Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island condos

by Carol Harvey : sfbayview – excerpt

According to D6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey, rumors of San Francisco’s death are greatly exaggerated – Housing is in trouble nationwide. Kick this up a notch in the City and County of San Francisco. The formerly popular city itself is in jeopardy…

The center of the centerpiece – The Treasure Island-Yerba Buena Island development project is crucially important to the City and County of San Francisco. Developers were counting on the huge project at Yerba Buena and Treasure Island standing as a centerpiece of new housing, some of it affordable. At the center of the centerpiece are the astronomically priced Yerba Buena Island condos…

‘The Residences at Yerba Buena Island – Tom Gasbarre, sales manager of the Residences at Yerba Buena Island, met us on the sidewalk in front of The Bristol and ushered us – me with my camera rolling – through the accessible front doors into the lobby…“There’ll be 266 homes here (on Yerba Buena Island); 124 in The Bristol Condominiums.”…Mr. Gasbarre pointed across the street to two additional “product types” under construction, one called The Townhomes; the other called The Flats. The Flats contain seven residences per building. A fourth clutch of condos, named Courtyard Townhomes, is being built on the opposite City side of the island over the hill next to a one-acre off-leash dog park…On a map, he indicated “a six-acre park at the top of the island,” the sand beach down along Clipper Cove, and “a ferry service that connects the islands to the Embarcadero Ferry Building.”… He told us Yerba Buena Island studios start at $185,000 – one bedrooms at a million…

Treasure Island is really going to be carrying a lot of the City’s housing promise – At his Sept. 29 Coffee, Dorsey discussed the vital importance of the Treasure Island-Yerba Buena Island project…“There is state law,” he said, “that requires municipalities to update their general plan every eight years. It’s a portion of the General Plan called the Housing Element.” And the Housing Element is “the strategy for how municipalities are going to take steps to build housing and actually facilitate the production of housing, including affordable housing levels…“Treasure Island is really going to be carrying a lot of this because literally 10 percent of the goal – or a little under 10 percent – is going to be here on the island.”…

Some of the most ambitious residential housing endeavors in history – At his coffee event, Matt Dorsey insisted, “I think we have to do everything we can to take care of housing,” which meant that he supports a massive amount of new construction…(more)

A lot more to read about the Housing Element the states laws that were enacted by our state representatives that removed single family zoning from the state and are demanding that cities approve dense housing developments whether people want to to live in them or not. Read the article and let your supervisors know how you feel about these plans. (more)

By Kathleen Ronayne : smdailyjournal – excerpt

In an effort to spur affordable housing production and aid California’s economic recovery due to the COVID-19 crisis, Senate Democrats unveiled a package of legislation intended to bolster production of new housing and remove existing barriers by further streamlining the development process, according to Senate President Toni Atkins, D-San Diego.

According to Atkins, the package of bills will lead to more construction jobs and apprenticeships opportunities that will strengthen the economic viability of working families and the state.

It follows the work of state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, after the defeat of his controversial Senate Bill 50…

The first bill, SB 902, by Wiener, allows local governments to pass a zoning ordinance that is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act for projects that allow up to 10 units, if they are located in a transit-rich area, jobs-rich area, or an urban infill site.
Atkins has her own bill, SB 995, that would expand the application of streamlining the CEQA process to smaller housing projects that include at least 15% affordable housing. It also would broaden application and utilization of the Master Environmental Impact Report (MEIR) process, which allows cities to do upfront planning that streamlines housing approvals on an individual project level.
Another Atkins bill, SB 1120, would encourage small-scale neighborhood development by streamlining the process for a homeowner to create a duplex or subdivide an existing lot in all residential areas.
SB 1085 by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, would enhance the existing density bonus law by increasing the number of incentives provided to developers in exchange for providing more affordable units.
SB 1385, by state Sen. Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, would unlock existing land zoned for office and retail use and allow housing to become an eligible use on those sites… (more)

Check out Livable California Act Now on for details on actions you may take to stop the bills you don’t like. Many communities and city leaders are calling for a time out on density as the population shifts during the pandemic. Many will not return to their offices choosing to work from home.

RELATED:

The Work-From-Home Revolution Is Quickly Gaining Momentum
by Jack Kelly : forbes – excerpt

…Kate Lister, President of Global Workplace Analytics, said according to her firm’s study that,  “Seventy-seven percent of the workforce say they want to continue to work from home, at least weekly, when the pandemic is over,” and Lister estimates that, “25-30% of the workforce will be working-from-home multiple days a week by the end of 2021.”…(more)

What, exactly, is going to get built on Geary and Masonic?

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

It was first described as a mixed-use development, then as housing for families …. and now it’s furnished studios for ‘students and visiting professors.’

Just before the Board of Supes voted to approve a new 101-unit project on Geary and Masonic, we learned a critical piece of information:

The developer isn’t planning just to build housing for “working people and families” It’s going to be at least in part furnished rentals, which often becomes corporate rentals.

Sup. Dean Preston said that the developer told him the project only “pencils out” if a significant amount of it is furnished rentals – which bring in higher prices.

“All of their projections are based on furnished rentals,” Preston said. He said the developer needed 19 percent return, that 17 percent wasn’t enough.

The project, the supervisors were told, will be financed by a union pension fund…

So the project – whatever it actually is going to turn out to be – was approved 10-1. But the question still remains: Why is the city going along with a developer’s demand that the rules be relaxed for financial reasons – when nobody but a few supervisors have been able to see the data?… (more)

Stop the eviction proceedings now.

All the courts are closed and all cases are continued for 90 days except the
Eviction Courts are continuing non-stop, even though the Mayor and Sheriff claim to have ceased eviction proceedings and the Supervisors are working on new legislation to halt them.

Call the presiding judge, Garrett Wong and ask him to stop the hearings now. His telephone number is 415-551-3693. You don’t get to talk to a human, but you can leave a message.

Sample script: “My name is ______________ and I am calling to ask that
Presiding Judge Wong use his power to close the courts in San Francisco
County and stop evictions during the CoVid-19 outbreak.”

Please give him a call if you can!

A $60 Billion Housing Grab by Wall Street

By Francesca Mari : nytimes – excerpt

Hundreds of thousands of single-family homes are now in the hands of giant companies — squeezing renters for revenue and putting the American dream even further out of reach… (more)

The (above) New York Times article states that private-equity firms have grabbed roughly $60 billion worth of single-family homes.Although, the strategy of the investors, described in the article, has been somewhat different (it seems they have bought distressed homes) than what their strategy would be if they bought up single-family homes in order to convert them to triplexes as allowed by SB-773, it shows that private-equity firms have a strong appetite for single-family homes.

Per our attached list of problems with SB-773: “By prohibiting local agencies from requiring a homeowner to live on the premises, SB-773 incentivizes large-scale investors to buy up single-family homes, convert them to triplexes and then operate them as commercial enterprises. Over time, as supply of single-family homes diminishes, the price of single-family homes would rise more rapidly for residents.”

Recap About Senate Bill 773:
SB-773 is a “clean-up bill” and corrects chaptering errors in accessory dwelling unit (ADU) legislation enacted in 2019 (AB-68, AB-881, SB-13 and others). The bill combines all the ADU legislation enacted last year into one bill. It passed through the State Senate on January 27th and is now being heard by the State Assembly Rules Committee.

We believe that amendments to the bill could correct much more than just chaptering errors. This is an opportunity to amend the flawed ADU bills that were signed into law last year. All further comments about SB-773, also apply to the other newly enacted ADU bills.

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs) can be very beneficial. However, by requiring ministerial review and stripping away local control of land use and local development standards related to second units, SB-773 goes too far. This is particularly true in high fire risk areas.

This detrimental bill eliminates single family zoning and enables the transformation of beneficial accessory dwelling units (second units and granny flats) into overcrowded multifamily triplexes with potentially multiple adverse impacts.

Besides other mandates, SB-773 requires local agencies to approve detached ADUs that exceed the Floor Area Ratio (FAR), provided the ADU is 800 square feet or less, 16 feet or less in height, and 4 feet or more from the rear/side property lines.

In addition, SB-773 prohibits cities and counties from requiring additional off-street parking spaces in any of the following instances:

(1) The accessory dwelling unit is located within one-half mile walking distance of public transit. [**SB-773 defines ‘Public transit’ as “a location, including but not limited to, a bus stop or train station, where the public may access buses, trains, subways and other forms of transportation that charge set fares, run on fixed routes, and are available to the public.”]
(2) The accessory dwelling unit is located within an architecturally and historically significant historic district.
(3) The accessory dwelling unit is part of the proposed or existing primary residence or an accessory structure.
(4) When on-street parking permits are required but not offered to the occupant of the accessory dwelling unit.
(5) When there is a car share vehicle located within one block of the accessory dwelling unit.
(6) When homeowners convert garages to new housing.

Best regards,

Sharon

Massive new development would transform Dogpatch area

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

Lots of office space, hotel rooms, housing — but how’s it going to work without massive new investments in transit?… (more)

Not to speak about the massive amounts of water and power and sewer and trash support this new “city in a city” will require. When exactly is enough enough?

 

SF Democrats side with mayor’s candidates for supe, DA

By Tim Redmond : 48hills – excerpt

A Reform Slate elected to oppose real-estate interests can’t prevent the industry’s favorite candidate from winning the D5 nod.

The progressive majority on the Democratic County Central Committee splintered last night.

Although a reform slate was elected in 2016 specifically with the mandate to move away from real-estate-industry control of the party, the candidate for D5 supe who has the support of real-estate won a party endorsement…

By a one-vote margin, the DCCC backed Sup. Vallie Brown and refused to give Dean Preston, who has the backing of every major tenant group and most progressive organizations in town, a shot at a Number Two endorsement.

The mayor’s candidate for district attorney also got the party nod…(more)