san-francisco-proposition-d-affordable-homes-now - Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco Bay Area and Providing Affordable Homes and Homeownership Opportunities

Vote ‘Yes’ on Prop D

San Francisco voters get chance to vote for Affordable Homes Now this November

This November, San Franciscans can boost affordable homebuilding by voting to cut the red tape that ties up residential construction projects in the city.

Proposition D (“Affordable Homes Now”) is backed by Habitat Greater San Francisco and a who’s who of pro-housing supporters, led by SF Mayor London Breed and SF State Senator Scott Wiener.

Together we can remove some of the biggest hurdles that face affordable development, help grow our stock of housing for our essential workers, and ease the burden on our working families.

The median timeframe for approval of residential developments in San Francisco is 27 months. This makes us an outlier in California where, across the state, more typical median times for approval are found in cities like Los Angeles (10 months), San Diego (14 months) and Oakland (5 months).

The delay can be four to seven years.

The substantial additional cost and uncertainty created by the lengthy entitlement process means that many homes do not get built at all — even though they are following city rules.

This means fewer homes for our essential workers. The lack of housing supply leads to too many of our neighbors living in accommodation that is overcrowded and unaffordable. Many more of those who are a vital part of the fabric of our city undertake exceptionally long commutes.

Proposition D, if approved, would require projects to be approved within 3–6 months and contains important worker protections.

It does this by allowing affordable developments to move forward without having to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis if they comply with all existing requirements in the city’s planning and business codes.

What exactly counts as an affordable residential development for the purpose of securing fast-tracking under Proposition D?

· All homes in the development are affordable for households earning 120% or below of Area Median Income. (In 2022 $116,400 for a one-person household or $166,250 for a four-person household).

· The development has 10+ units and provides 15% more on-site affordable units than required by existing city law. The affordable home price or rent must be at least 20% below the neighborhood market rate.

· The homes are designed for lower/middle-income households with at least one member who is an employee of San Francisco Unified School District or the Community College District.

Homebuilding projects that meet one of these criteria would be allowed to bypass discretionary review. Importantly any development that would remove or demolish existing housing (or historic landmark) will not be eligible for “by right” approval under Proposition D.

The SF Chronicle has endorsed Proposition D in the recent article from their Editorial Board, “Bus drivers and teachers need affordable housing too. Vote yes on Prop. D.”

Route to the ballot

Proposition D became eligible to be included on the November ballot after more than 52,000 registered San Francisco voters signed-on to support its inclusion. To pass, it requires 50%+1 of votes cast and needs to get more votes than the ‘opposition’ measure, Prop E.

‘Yes’ on Prop D

Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco is joined by other nonprofit homebuilders familiar with operating in challenging permitting environments including Mission Housing. Affordable Homes Now partners include the NorCal Carpenters Union, SPUR, and the Housing Action Coalition.

This November, we all invite you to vote YES on Proposition D.

We also ask that you vote NO on Proposition E — a competing measure that will not result in more affordable homes being built.

San Francisco voters will receive their ballots in the mail on or around October 10, 2022. The ballot must be returned on or before election day (November 8, 2022)

Stay up to date

To stay up to date on the Affordable Homes Now campaign, and Habitat’s other advocacy work, please follow us on Twitter @HabitatGSF or visit us at HabitatGSF.org/Advocacy.