City Hall compromise on housing ballot measures

A controversial proposal pushed by affordable housing activists and designed to ensure that 30 percent of San Francisco's future housing units are within reach of low- and middle-income residents will not go before voters in November, after Supervisor Jane Kim and Mayor Ed Lee reached a compromise Thursday.

Instead, voters will weigh in on a measure that would set the same lofty housing goals but wouldn't force market-rate developers to undergo a time-consuming review process they said would have slowed down housing development.

Under the compromise, voters will be asked in November to set specific housing goals, including Lee's aggressive plan to build or rehabilitate 30,000 housing units by 2020. It would specify that one-third of them should be affordable to low- and middle-income residents - more than Kim's initial proposal - and that half should be in reach to the middle class. It would call for an annual review of what's in the housing pipeline - including a hearing at the Board of Supervisors - and, if the ratio of affordable housing slips below the 30 percent threshold, the mayor would be required to make concrete proposals on how to get there.

It would also direct the mayor and supervisors to create a plan for funding the ambitious goals set out in the proposal, including the preservation of existing rental units, housing that is in reach for working and middle class residents to rent and own, and the rehabilitation of run-down public housing complexes. Kim said those funding strategies could include bonds, new fees or taxes or permanently earmarking money from the city's general fund.

Additionally, Kim said, the ballot measure will be partnered with a series of legislative proposals aimed at keeping nonprofits, arts organizations and small businesses in the city - particularly in the South of Market and Showplace Square areas.

She said the compromise will help "achieve the underlying goal" of her initial ballot measure, but held out the possibility that she and affordable housing activists will go to the ballot if they are not happy with what happens in the coming year.

"I want to emphasize that this is very much a compromise, but we all share same goal," she said.

The agreement means that voters won't be faced with two competing proposals: One by Kim, which was maligned by developers, and another by Lee that would have invalidated Kim's if it got more votes.

Kim's original proposal sought to ensure that nearly one-third of all housing in the development pipeline would be in reach of poor and working-class families by forcing a more time-consuming review process by city officials if the 30 percent goal was not being met. Market-rate developers said it would add another year or two to San Francisco's already difficult development approval process, which typically takes two to three years, and give antigrowth advocates an easy tool to slow down or block housing the city sorely needs.

Supporters argued that the mandate would ensure that much-needed affordable housing is built in a city where housing costs have jumped 20 percent since March 2013.

Lee's competing proposal would have prohibited new requirements, including those based on the ratio of affordable housing, in areas where the city has already laid out land-use plans. It would have effectively invalidated Kim's measure if both appeared on the ballot and the mayor's received more votes.

The compromise measure - which needs the support of six board members to be placed on the ballot - will be considered by the supervisors Tuesday.