Council-Sponsored Bill Seeks to Accelerate Housing Permitting in San Francisco

San Francisco is one of the only jurisdictions in the country that requires developers to go through arduous and discretionary permitting processes even after they have given planning permission for a project to move forward. To end this onerous practice, which was highlighted in a piece this week by San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight, the Bay Area Council is proud to be co-sponsoring a bill with our partners at the Housing Action Coalition and authored by Assemblymember Matt Haney (San Francisco).

Instead, these individual permits, which include things like demolition, seismic and fire safety, will be handled by building code experts, rather than political bodies with discretionary power. This will dramatically speed up the housing approval process. It’s one of a number of housing reform bills the Council is sponsoring and supporting this year, and we’ll be exploring these other bills in the weeks to come. To engage in the Council’s housing policy work, please contact Policy Vice President Louis Mirante.