Public housing to be allowed under South City Measure AA

However, opponents believe the city’s population growth hasn’t increased in a decade but are concerned that the city is building units to reach the Regional Housing Needs Allocation based on employee numbers from the biotech industry that seems unreasonably sustainable.

“When that happens we are going to be stuck having to pay this for ourselves the maintenance or whatever but under federal rules, we are going to be under the Housing of Urban Development’s rules and our city will have no say in what will go on with this public housing,” said Cynthia Marcopulos, a South San Francisco resident for the past 38 years.

An urban economics company did an independent study that said building 150 units could cost anywhere between $45 million to $85 million, according to Marcopulos, who said there is no identifiable funding for the measure.

However, Councilmember James Coleman argues that the city has the funds acquired from commercial linkage fees to fund the projects. Management and building maintenance could be funded by the rental income from the units. In the long term, the city can use the equity from the buildings to refinance and build more units, he added.

If passed, the measure would override Article 34, a law that states additional affordable housing units can only be built with public funds if passed through a voter initiative. State legislation to repeal Article 34 is expected in 2024 but Coleman said he would like to speed up the process with Measure AA.

Additionally, the federal government can’t fund such projects because the Faircloth Amendment passed in 1998 restricts it from funding additional net units of public housing, according to the Housing and Urban Development website.

“We currently have Housing and Urban Development owned and operated property on C street in South San Francisco, around 60 units of public housing and managed by our local housing authority,” said Coleman. “That has performed remarkably well but they can’t expand because of the Faircloth Amendment.”

Measure AA follows in the footsteps of San Francisco’s Proposition K in 2020, which allowed the city to acquire up to 10,000 units of low-income rental housing. Other Bay Area cities such as Oakland and Emeryville have put similar measures on the ballot this year.

“It would allow us to have much more control, it would allow us to build affordable housing much faster in South San Francisco,” said Coleman.

There is limited control for the City Council right now to ask private developers for a higher percentage of affordable units, more community benefits and better design standards, he added.

“Nonprofit developers get funding from a variety of sources and it can take many many years for all those sources to add up and make that development economically viable, so this would allow us to get through that process much faster,” said Coleman.

Opponent and longtime resident Cory Allen David believes that the biotech industry is driving the city’s RHNA numbers up.

“We already have expanded beyond our capability to provide housing,” said David.

From 2023-2031, RHNA requirements mean the city must plan for 3,956 units of various incomes.

Coleman said the possible 2,000 units that would be built through this measure would help reach those numbers.

“It’s half of our Regional Housing Needs Allocation numbers, right, so it fits well for the next eight to 10 years at least,” said Coleman.

Measure AA require 50% to pass and would be effective 10 days after the City Council certifies the results of the election, which is being held Nov. 8.

nick@smdailyjournal.com

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