FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, 415-554-6131

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MAYOR LONDON BREED ANNOUNCES PLAN TO SPEED UP DELIVERY OF NEW HOUSING

Newly created position of Director of Housing Delivery to be tasked with working with Housing Delivery Team to cut permitting time for new housing projects in half

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced the creation of the position of Director of Housing Delivery, who will be charged with managing a Housing Delivery Team to move housing projects forward faster. Reporting directly to the Mayor, the Director of Housing Delivery will also be tasked with implementing necessary administrative changes to streamline the permitting process. Mayor Breed has set a goal of cutting the permitting time after Planning Commission approval for large and mid-sized projects in half.

“We are in desperate need of new housing, but our current permitting process is too slow as projects are bounced back and forth between City departments instead of moving forward,” said Mayor Breed. “Once the Planning Commission approves these projects, the City must move more quickly to get these housing units permitted so we can create more homes for people. My Director of Housing Delivery’s sole job will be to work with our City departments to streamline the permitting process and work with departments to get housing built quickly.”

After a project is approved by the Planning Commission, the permitting process to move the project forward can involve as many as eight different departments, which each have unique schedules and processes. As a result, affordable housing and market-rate housing proposals are often delayed in the planning process without clear guidance on how to proceed or how to resolve conflicting requirements from departments. These delays can jeopardize the financing of new projects, make that financing more expensive, and result in them being abandoned altogether.

In addition to working to move individual projects through the process, the Director of Housing Delivery will take immediate steps to streamline the entitlement process, including using common schedules to track large projects and a master schedule to provide a holistic view of development in the City. Furthermore, the Director will be tasked with implementing Electronic Plan Review to digitize applications so multiple departments can review them simultaneously.

“As a local affordable housing developer, I welcome the Mayor’s efforts to make San Francisco’s approval and permitting processes move quickly and efficiently,” said Doug Shoemaker, President of Mercy Housing California. “Too often, projects can get entangled in conflicts that delay housing that we need right now, and these changes will help projects like ours avoid problems and get directly into the hands of working families.”

Additionally, the Director of Housing Delivery will be tasked with establishing a clear system to track whether housing goals are being met, and ensuring a proper mix of permanent and temporary City staff are retained where needed so applications do not become backlogged.

The Housing Delivery Team will work under the Director to move projects through the permitting process quickly and provide recommendations on process reform. The Team will be comprised of Housing Coordinators, which currently serve as the point person on housing projects from each Department. The Director of Housing Delivery and Housing Delivery Team will be located together. 

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