S.F. Mayor Lee vetoes proposed rolling-stop law for bicyclists

Bicyclists ride inbound on Market Street near Valencia Street in San Francisco. Supervisor John Avalos is moving forward with his proposal to permit bicyclists to roll through stop signs, a plan that Mayor Ed Lee says he would veto. less Bicyclists ride inbound on Market Street near Valencia Street in San Francisco. Supervisor John Avalos is moving forward with his proposal to permit bicyclists to roll through stop signs, a plan that Mayor Ed ... more Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close S.F. Mayor Lee vetoes proposed rolling-stop law for bicyclists 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

Mayor Ed Lee has followed through on his pledge to veto legislation that would allow bicyclists to roll through stop signs instead of coming to a full stop.

In a letter to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Lee wrote that the “ordinance does not promote balanced public safety for all the diverse users of our streets; rather, it trades safety for convenience. Therefore, this is not a policy I can allow this city to endorse.”

The mayor’s veto puts an end, at least for now, to legislation that generated strong feelings on both sides. It passed the Board of Supervisors on a 6-5 vote last week, but eight votes would be needed to override the mayor’s veto.

The legislation sought to make ticketing bicyclists who roll through stop signs the lowest priority for San Francisco police. It would have permitted bicyclists to treat a stop sign as a yield sign and ride through without stopping, at a speed 6 mph or less, if they decided it was safe.

It was championed by Supervisor John Avalos, who described it as a common-sense measure that would force the police to spend time on more pressing priorities.

Critics countered that it endangered people’s lives.

— Emily Green

Senate sniping: We knew the state Senate race between Supervisors Scott Wiener and Jane Kim was going to get good — and it has.

The Wiener camp commissioned a poll that — surprise, surprise — shows Wiener off to a fast start. The poll, conducted by EMC Research, surveyed 600 voters in the state Senate district last month and found that 39 percent said they’ll vote for Wiener. Twenty-four percent said they’ll vote for Kim, and 4 percent said they’ll vote for little-known Republican challenger David Carlos Salaverry. The rest said they’re undecided.

The poll also showed that 58 percent of voters know who Wiener is, but just 39 percent know Kim. When asked whether “being a strong leader” and “being effective and getting things done” better describe Wiener or Kim, respondents were twice as likely to say Wiener.

“I think Supervisor Kim has a huge gulf to bridge,” said Maggie Muir, Wiener’s campaign manager. “I think she got a late start in her fundraising, and her endorsements certainly carry less weight.”

Kim’s big endorsements include former state Sen. John Burton, former Assemblyman Tom Ammiano and Public Defender Jeff Adachi. Wiener’s include U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, state Attorney General Kamala Harris and state Sen. Mark Leno.

Eric Jaye, Kim’s campaign manager, said the Wiener camp sounds like the Hillary Clinton campaign.

“It’s, ‘Vote for me because I’m going to win.’ This has been his entire campaign all along, which is to claim that he’s inevitable,” Jaye said. “Clearly, we beg to differ.”

Jaye said that on the issue that matters most to San Franciscans — affordability — Kim is the clear top choice, and that will translate to more support as the race draws closer. The two will probably face off twice under California’s top two voting system — the June primary and the November election.

But, wait, if Wiener is the Hillary Clinton of the race, is Kim the Bernie Sanders? Asked that question, Jaye laughed and quickly changed the subject.

— Heather Knight

Development rules: Developers in San Francisco would save time and money under new state guidelines that would change traffic studies required for projects in dense, transit-rich environments.

The governor’s office of Planning and Research announced a proposal to streamline the California Environmental Quality Act review process for projects that boost public transportation, walking and biking, and reduce the need for traveling long distances by car.

What could that mean for builders developing a 300-unit housing complex in San Francisco? Savings of as much as six months and $200,000.

“These new rules help remove a quirk of California environmental law that made it harder to build projects that improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Ken Alex, director of the Planning and Research office.

The changes, which are being made possible by a recent state Senate bill, would mean that developers of urban infill projects would no longer have to study how a development would impact automobile traffic. Under current CEQA rules, car traffic is considered an environmental impact that must be mitigated — often by building more and wider roads, which leads to more traffic and increased greenhouse gas emissions.

Instead, proposed developments would still be scrutinized for issues like traffic conflicts, pedestrian safety and transit accessibility, but developers would no longer have to pay expensive consultants to do time-consuming car counts, according to Sarah Jones, who heads up environmental planning for the city.

The San Francisco Planning Commission will consider the rule changes in February and they could be in place later this year.

“We’ll use this new approach to help support trends towards more compact growth,” said Steve Heminger, executive director of the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

Transportation planner Jeffrey Tumlin, a principal with San Francisco’s Nelson/Nygaard, said the current system has been “great for us transportation consultants, but bad for California.”

“The new guidelines will likely mean fewer 200-page traffic analysis technical appendices that no one other than lawyers read,” he said.

— J.K. Dineen

J.K. Dineen, Emily Green and Heather Knight are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. E-mail: cityinsider@sfchronicle.com, jkdineen@sfchronicle.com, egreen@sfchronicle.com, hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfcityinsider, @SFjkdineen, @emilytgreen, @hknightSF