Officials approved broadening the reach of South San Francisco’s inclusionary housing policy to include rental units, despite concerns that the initiative may stifle further residential development.
The South San Francisco City Council agreed, with Councilman Pradeep Gupta dissenting, to expand the policy requiring builders to set a portion of new for-rent projects aside at an affordable rate.
The decision Thursday, Sept. 13, is aligned with an effort by state lawmakers to facilitate affordable housing construction by empowering local officials, with an eye on combating California’s housing crisis.
Liza Normandy
Mayor Liza Normandy said she supported the proposal as a means of assuring new, affordable units are built in South San Francisco following an extended stretch of constructing market-rate projects.
“We have an opportunity based on the housing subcommittee’s direction to be able to provide some units at an affordable rate,” she said, according to video of the meeting. “And I’m sorry, I’m just not for market rate in South San Francisco any longer. There has to be some kind of balance.”
Under the decision, 10 percent of all new rental projects as of Thursday, Nov. 1, will be required to be set aside at an affordable rate. Next year, that mandate will increase to 15 percent. Builders seeking to avoid building the affordable units will be allowed to pay an in-lieu fee of $308,000 per unit.
The proposal was unpopular with representatives from housing development companies who sought an exemption, with concerns that mandates would render potential projects financially infeasible.
Brendan Hayes, a senior vice president with Fairfield Residential which is building 157 units along Airport Boulevard, asked officials to consider grandfathering in projects already part of the development pipeline.
More broadly, developers raised concerns about cutting profit margins during an already expensive period for construction in the Bay Area would result in suppressing development in South San Francisco.
Such a concern resonated with Gupta, citing fears about discouraging builders from proposing projects locally.
“I would like to make sure that we do not unnecessarily cause those obstructions which may prevent those projects from going forward,” said Gupta, who voted in support of two other proposals to align the city’s regulations with the state and establish the in-lieu fee.
While recognizing the need for additional affordable housing, he added it is important for South San Francisco to remain a development destination if the city hopes to build the units commensurate with the demand to live locally.
“We need to build the supply. Yes, we need housing. We need affordable housing. But in order to make that happen, we need to make sure the builders building those projects will be willing to build,” he said.
Though his fellow councilmembers recognized Gupta’s concerns, ultimately their support for the initiative outweighed his dissent.
Vice Mayor Karyl Matsumoto was especially skeptical of the suggestion that establishing the regulations would slow down development locally. As evidence, she pointed to similar concerns expressed when officials considered establishing levying new fees against the local biotech industry, which subsequently continued to boom.
Noting the calls she has heard from residents seeking more affordable housing, Matsumoto said she supported the proposal and was willing to take the risk that the reduced profit margin would not chase away developers.
“Human life is more important to me and I’m willing to gamble that there will be opportunities if we hold fast,” she said.
Councilman Rich Garbarino was absent from the meeting.
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CA Is Burning said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
Greg - thank you for this wake up call. It is relevant for many of us in similar situations.
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(2) comments
There is a severe housing shortage in our area. "Affordable" housing requirements could have the unintended consequence of reducing the construction of new housing. Remember, the cost of housing is a function of supply and demand.
The development companies are trying to run the City, and only the fact that Normandy is retiring has given her the moral self-confidence to speak out.
These companies aren't building on the mudflats. They're destroying existing neighborhoods, and introducing thousands of people whose cultural, economic, and social needs and behaviors are entirely at variance with the pre-existing community. The developers' only connection with the community (and the City which encompasses it) is to take away as much money as possible. That's why they negotiate vigorously to keep from scaling-up any necessary community resources (fire, police, traffic, libraries, streets & sewers, schools, parks & playgrounds, &c,) on their dime!
Changing the character of a neighborhood without any consideration of current residents demonstrates more than a lack of respect - it is an aggressive move by absentee monied interests against an established community.
Councilman Gupta (whose home lies in the undistinguished development on the former Silver Terrace Nursery that cost the City a number of jobs and an historically important business) is acting as a shill for these greedy and unprincipled investment firms. It's time he got out and spent some time in the affected area.
Councilman Gupta - in particular - continues to
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