Locals to get preference for new affordable housing

Many cities throughout the county are starting to review anti-displacement policies, as they’re typically dictated in their respective housing elements, which are state-mandated documents outlining how the jurisdiction will help boost housing production and security. 

South City’s new local preference policy is not an entirely new approach, as the practice has often been applied in agreements with developers, though Management Analyst Pierce Abrahamson said it was important to codify the rules to help shore up legal compliance, especially related to the state’s Fair Housing Act. 

“For the context of tax credit-funded projects, which is essentially a large portion of affordable housing projects … they need to be locally adopted,” Abrahmson said. “Secondly, we also through this process wanted to make sure we are in full compliance of fair housing law.”

With the new ordinance, which passed unanimously by the council, prospective tenants applying for a affordable housing unit will be issued one point if they live or have lived in the city, work there at least 20 hours per week or have accepted a job offer; however, points are not cumulative, meaning the same weight would be given toward a past resident as it would to someone who both lives and works in the city. 

“It can be difficult to include a length of time, and the guidance we've received and the best practices in this space are to be as inclusive as possible when defining your preference so as not to create a fair housing issue,” said Nell Selander, Economic and Community Development director. 

The local preference may not be applicable in some instances, such as in cases where federal funds like Housing Choice or Moving to Work vouchers are involved, but it would still apply for many projects, such as those using state tax credits or other funds. 

Mayor Eddie Flores, who also helped spearhead the city’s Anti-Displacement Community Advisory Committee, said the policy was an important move to shore up tenant protections and affordable accommodations. 

“When we talk about, ‘why isn't the city doing something to prevent people from moving out of South San Francisco and why aren’t we doing more,’ this is one significant step of how we are addressing that,” Flores said. “This is a small but very instrumental step in moving the right way to give the preference that we've always asked for.”

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