Housing Element needs Work, Critics Claim

By Andrew Sywak

More than 100 people attended a meeting at St. Brendan's Parish Hall Nov. 19 to discuss the city's Housing Element, now being deliberated upon by the SF Planning Commission.

Sponsored by the District 7 Advisory Council, the forum featured numerous speakers discussing how different parts of the legislation would affect westside residents.

The Housing Element is a controversial citywide plan that aims to ease the cost of housing in the City by increasing housing density along transit corridors. Among other guidelines, the plan would ease restrictions for secondary units (such as "in-laws" in single-family homes), and relax regulations on parking and the height of buildings. Opponents of the current plan believe the added density will compromise neighborhood character while further congesting city streets and services.

After opening with the Pledge of Allegiance, District 7 Advisory Council Chair Bud Wilson introduced District 7 SF Supervisor Tony Hall and commended him for his efforts to change the Housing Element. Hall took the stage, explaining his view that the current draft of the Housing Element would not be in the best interests of residents living in the west side of the City.

"This is not a campaign so much as a movement. It's a matter of informing people of what is to hit them and their lifestyle and what we should do about it," Hall said, urging outreach to other neighborhoods to generate opposition to the current plan.

"This is not a NIMBY (Not-In-My-Backyard) organization, this is about building housing the right way," he said. "It impacts our traffic. It impacts our individual housing. It's not something to take lightly."

Speakers at the event included current and former presidents of the Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods (CSFN), a member of the SF Planning Commission and public relations specialists. A dizzying array of code regulations and state and city legislation were quoted to the crowd by the different panelists - all of whom spoke unfavorably about the current Housing Element.

"Even if you like development, if you're a fiscal conservative, you gotta be against this plan," said Barbara Meskunas, current president of the CSFN.

Meskunas promoted recently-approved housing developments at the Transbay Terminal and at Rincon Hill that will add thousands of units to the second-most densely populated city in America.

Part of the forum addressed a part of the Housing Element written by SF Supervisor Aaron Peskin that would ease restrictions on secondary units in the City. Included in Section 207 of the Planning Code are 17 findings that explain why secondary units are not advisable for the City. Peskin's ordinance would delete those findings.

Many speakers spoke unfavorably about the ordinance, charging that it would alter the rooted family atmosphere of their neighborhoods by adding a temporary population of renters and increase parking congestion.

"Peskin is throwing you a bone but there's nothing there," said Sean Elsbernd, a legislative aide to Hall.

"This is not just West of Twin Peaks, this is all neighborhoods in the City who are voicing concern," said SF Planning Commissioner Vice-President Mike Antonini about the Housing Element. "The public is just starting to realize some of the parts of this that they don't agree with."

The Housing Element is a part of the City's General Plan, which every county in California is required to have by law. As a part of the General Plan, the Housing Element is a set of rules and regulations that provide a blueprint to manage the City's growth and development which must be drawn up every five years.

Antonini said the seven-member commission can still receive written comments from the public about the Housing Element, which is currently being considered for an environmental impact review.

According to Antonini, the commission will know by the end of December if it is needed. At that time, the Housing Element can be amended.

"My concerns are the overburden on the infrastructure and parking and the character of the neighborhood changing," said Judy Tarracina, a Parkside District homeowner.

"We need more discussion as to what benefits everyone, and not just certain segments of society, the renters," she said.

Hall agrees.

"We have to have a Housing Element, but we don't have to have this one," he said.