California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Oct. 26 the findings of a report detailing issues in San Francisco’s housing policies and permitting that are hampering new housing development and, he said, are in violation of state law.
Citing decades-long issues and what are described in the report as the worst practices in the state, the governor is looking to expedite development, eliminate some environmental reviews, and improve transparency while removing subjectivity from planning review processes.
“California’s affordability crisis is one of our own making—the decisions we made limited the creation of housing we need,” Mr. Newsom said in a statement announcing the report. “Nowhere is this fact more evident than in San Francisco.”
Describing the findings as a path forward for more efficient development, the governor suggested that problems need to be acknowledged before they can be solved.
“This report is an important first step to address the decades of issues that have held back San Francisco’s ability to build more housing,” Mr. Newsom said. “City leaders have come to the table to work with us on addressing these issues and implement solutions.”
According to the report, the city is out of compliance with state mandates intended to create more housing and could be sued for it.
Housing projects in San Francisco experienced the longest timelines in the state, averaging 523 days for approval compared with 385 days in the next slowest city, neighboring South San Francisco. The report also found that another 605 days, on average, were needed to issue building permits for approved projects—approximately four times the state average.
San Francisco’s processes took, on average, three years longer than Oakland’s, the report noted.
To address housing affordability issues, officials are seeking to add 2.5 million homes statewide, including 1 million units deemed affordable for low-income families, over the next eight years.
Given the current rate of progress, San Francisco will be unable to meet the state’s goal of adding more than 82,000 housing units in the city until 2031, according to the report.
Further complicating matters, the city has the highest construction costs in California and a median rent price of more than $3,500, according to the report.
Reviews of permit applications reportedly result in lengthy delays and inconsistent findings, and political discourse from city officials also affects review processes and thus housing construction, according to the report, which was produced by the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development and the University of California–Berkeley.
“San Francisco’s notoriously complex, cumbersome, and unpredictable housing approval process came onto the state’s radar for good reason, as this rigorous [housing department] investigation and UC Berkeley research bore out,” Gustavo Velasquez, the state’s housing department director, said in the governor’s statement. “We name very specific actions to bring the city into compliance ... which will move San Francisco into a new housing era with increased housing supply and affordability.”
Steps to resolve the city’s housing delays include 18 required actions and another 10 recommended actions, including eliminating subjectivity in review processes, reforming local environmental review practices, reducing the number of local administrative appeals, expediting and standardizing permitting, and increasing transparency and accountability throughout the process.
“Ultimately, these efforts will help stem the tide of displacement and make it possible for working class families to return to the city,” Mr. Velasquez said.
