Adopt the Family Zoning Plan in San Francisco

By adopting this plan, San Francisco meets state law obligations under the Housing Element to approve a compliant rezoning plan by the January 2026 deadline or risk losing local control over housing approvals. The goal is to reverse decades of housing segregation and coordinate new development with investments in infrastructure and services across all neighborhoods, not only those that have historically absorbed the majority of new housing. The Family Zoning Plan would rezone approximately 36,000 parcels across the city to allow buildings of four to six stories in areas currently limited to single-family homes or duplexes, with the greatest density increases concentrated along major transit corridors such as Geary Boulevard, Mission Street, and Taraval Street. The plan projects the creation of an estimated 82,000 new housing units over the eight-year planning period, of which roughly 18,000 would be required to be affordable under the city’s inclusionary housing ordinance. SF Planning has conducted extensive community engagement over 18 months, including 45 public workshops, an online mapping tool that received over 12,000 unique responses, and targeted outreach in communities of color and immigrant neighborhoods. The plan includes $400 million in proposed infrastructure investments covering parks, schools, sewer capacity, and transit improvements to support the anticipated population growth. Neighborhood groups in the western half of the city, particularly in the Sunset and Richmond districts, have organized in opposition, arguing that the rezoning would fundamentally alter the low-rise character of their communities and strain already overcrowded schools. Proponents, including the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition and Supervisor-sponsored resolutions, argue that equitable distribution of housing growth is both a legal requirement and a moral imperative given the city’s history of exclusionary zoning. The Planning Commission voted 5-2 to recommend adoption, and the Board of Supervisors is expected to hold a final vote in early 2026. Failure to adopt a compliant plan would trigger the state’s Builder’s Remedy provision, allowing developers to bypass local zoning entirely.