A motion by the Board of Supervisors that would oppose state “by-right” development legislation and skirt Mayor Ed Lee’s veto of a resolution against it failed at a special meeting Monday.

The legislation, by Gov. Jerry Brown, would make it easier to build new housing without going through an extensive permitting process. If enacted, the proposal would allow planning staff to approve housing developments that conform to the city’s zoning and include 10 percent affordable units, or 20 percent if the project is close to public transit.

The supervisors passed a resolution opposing the by-right legislation in July, but Lee vetoed it. The board ran out of time to override the resolution before the summer recess, pushing the issue into a special meeting. Board members wanted to pass the resolution in the form of a motion, which Lee cannot veto because it is a parliamentary procedure.

Supervisor Scott Wiener said a motion was an “irregular and really problematic” way to push the resolution.

“It is a procedural vote within the Board of Supervisors,” he said. “A motion is supposed to be about those of us within the board setting our own procedural rules. The mayor cannot veto it because it is not in his province to be meddling in the internal procedures. Putting that aside, the board is going to act the way it acts.”

It ultimately failed because a motion requires a board majority — six votes — to pass and it drew five votes of the seven supervisors present Monday. Wiener and Supervisor Katy Tang voted against the motion.

But Supervisor Aaron Peskin said the motion was a way for the board to express itself.

“The policy body may pass a motion to express itself as the policy body,” he said. “It’s legal, though I’ll admit, it is often not done.”

After confusion over whether the motion had passed or not, board President London Breed said it had “unfortunately failed.”

Now, no more special meetings and on to recess.

Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn