San Francisco proposes major zoning overhaul in push for state-mandated housing (2025)

San Francisco officials want to close a chronic housing shortfall with a new rezoning plan designed to concentrate taller homes in neighborhoods that haven't had any major construction in decades.

Why it matters: San Francisco is behind on meeting an ambitious California-set goal of building at least 82,000 new homes in the city by 2031.

• The state has determined the city must change its zoning rules in order to comply with state law or face losing funding and risk a potential takeover of its housing approval process.

State of play: The new proposal backed by Mayor Daniel Lurie, called the "family rezoning plan," could dramatically alter many parts of the city with new building heights and rules accommodating multi-dwellings on properties to help fill a 36,200 housing unit shortage.

What they're saying: "For too long, San Francisco has made it easier to block new homes than to build them," Lurie said in an emailed statement. "Now, the state has given us a clear mandate to build more housing with real consequences if we don't."

The big picture: The proposed changes are part of San Francisco's switch to form-based zoning, which prioritizes the physical elements of a building and its surroundings instead of solely regulating land use, said Rachael Tanner, San Francisco's director of citywide planning.

• The goal is to make it easier to create more homes in existing neighborhoods by removing strict unit count restrictions, she added.

By the numbers: The rezoning is primarily targeted at areas that have been "historically exclusionary," representing just 10% of all new affordable and mixed-income housing construction since 2005 despite making up more than half of the city, according to the plan.

Between the lines: The plan would prioritize constructing more dense, mid-sized development near commercial streets and major transit corridors, with height limits reaching between six to eight stories in most areas around the Richmond and Sunset districts.

• Major thoroughfares along parts of Geary Boulevard, 19th Avenue, Balboa, Noriega, Lincoln and Taraval streets could see such changes. The busiest transit hubs in these areas could also see 11 to 14-story buildings.
• Some corridors near Van Ness Avenue could be transformed with 140-foot tall high-rises.

Friction point: Much of the new rezoning requirements are situated on the city's westside, which contain voting blocs that have historically been at odds with new development in their neighborhoods that are primarily characterized by single-family homes.

• Many of these voters, who supported Lurie's campaign, are now feeling "sorely disappointed," said westside resident and Neighborhoods United SF member Katherine Petrin, who is also an architectural historian and preservationist.

• "Voters don't want to see eight-story buildings in neighborhoods of single-family homes. It's more than clear that (Lurie) made the decision to choose YIMBY over his constituents," she told Axios in an emailed statement.

The other side: Jane Natoli, an organizing director at YIMBY Action, said the proposed rezoning is not about redeveloping or bulldozing down entire neighborhoods. The plan aims to give property owners more flexible options to create much-needed housing over time.

• "Do we want to live in a museum or do we want to live in a city?," she added. "This process is really about creating a different path that makes more space for the next generation of San Franciscans."

The intrigue: Deidre Von Rock, who leads the West Portal Merchants Association, is concerned that a "blanket approach" to zoning could hurt small businesses due to disruptions caused from construction.

• Instead, she supports new housing "where it makes sense," such as on vacant land, parking lots, or other types of infill housing.

What's next: The Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on the rezoning plan in the fall, Tanner said. San Francisco has until January 2026 to submit its plan to the state.