Mayor Lee Announces June 2016 Ballot Measures to Increase Affordable Housing Requirements & Improve City’s Transportation Network
Housing Measure to Require Economic Feasibility Study to Maximize Affordable Housing for Low & Middle Income Families & Transportation Policy Declaration to Make Smart Investments in Transportation Ne
Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced two June 2016 ballot measures that would increase the production of affordable housing and improve San Francisco’s transportation network.
“We have tackled our city’s most vexing challenges by working together and building consensus around some of our most pressing needs,” said Mayor Ed Lee. “By thoughtfully crafting solutions with all of our partners, we have been able to tackle pension reform, our housing crisis, unemployment, and more. That’s why I am bringing that same approach to make sure we produce more new affordable housing than ever before and we improve our transportation network. This is too important to San Franciscans to do anything less. These two measures will ensure we produce the maximum amount of affordable housing for low and middle income families without the unintended consequence of stifling affordable housing production. In addition to affordable housing, San Francisco also deserves a safe, reliable and affordable transportation system and to deliver that we must continue making smart investments in our City’s transportation infrastructure. We have a historic opportunity to invest in the future of transportation in our City, and this investment will make it easier for San Franciscans to get around the City as they go to work, school, home and everywhere in between.”
The housing measure would require the City to conduct an economic feasibility analysis to ensure maximum affordable housing is built by private developers in new housing developments. The study, to be completed by the end of 2016, will recommend adjustments to the City’s inclusionary housing on-site, off-site, and in-lieu fee options, which set rates of affordable housing production in private developments. The goal of the measure is to create the maximum amount of affordable housing that is economically feasible. The Mayor’s measure also requires the City to consider housing for middle-class families, a key priority of the Mayor’s goal to build and preserve 30,000 units of housing in San Francisco by 2020.
To prepare this economic analysis to maximize housing affordability, Mayor Lee reconvened a housing working group, the same group of diverse housing stakeholders that originally built the Housing Trust Fund in 2012 and many of the housing reforms San Francisco has developed and adopted in the last two years. The housing working group assembled consisted of City officials, housing advocates, community leaders and representatives from different sectors of the real estate industry, including affordable housing developers, market rate developers, realtors and small property owners.
Early this year, Mayor Lee introduced five critical pieces of affordable housing legislation including rehabilitating public housing, preserving affordable housing, stabilizing neighborhoods by keeping people in their homes, and keeping neighbors living in their communities, building more affordable units within market rate developments and accelerating and incentivizing the production of more permanently affordable units.
These policies and programs will work in concert with the voter-approved $310 million affordable housing bond that does not raise property taxes to ensure delivery of at least 10,780 units by 2020. Mayor Lee is committed to using every tool, including leveraging local, State, and Federal resources, to build more housing, including advocating for a $350 million piece of State legislation to build 3,000 more affordable units and undertook the most ambitious re-envisioning of public housing in recent American history. Mayor Lee’s planned $2.7 billion investment from the Housing Trust Fund, tax increment and fees over the next 20 years, make up the Mayor’s long-term plan to fight the affordability crisis and shift the balance of housing in the City so that San Francisco remains affordable for low and middle income families over the long term.
The Transportation Infrastructure Policy Declaration would create official City policy for investments in transportation infrastructure and safety projects that would significantly improve San Francisco’s transportation network. The ballot measure is based on policy recommendations from the SF 2030 Transportation Task Force, and will increase Muni reliability and travel speed, upgrade transit stops and stations, improve pedestrian and bicycle safety, invest in regional transportation, and prepare for growth on the City’s busiest traveled corridors.
The 2014 $500 million general obligation bond was one of several recommendations of the SF 2030 Transportation Task Force. Mayor Lee convened the SF 2030 Transportation Task Force to examine San Francisco’s transportation infrastructure needs and prepare for the City’s future. The Task Force found that to meet current need and future demand the city requires several billion dollars of investment in transportation infrastructure through 2030. The City has identified $3.7 billion in funding to date. For the final recommendations of the Mayor’s SF 2030 Transportation Task Force, go to: www.sf-planning.org/index.aspx?page=3427.
“We have tackled our city’s most vexing challenges by working together and building consensus around some of our most pressing needs,” said Mayor Ed Lee. “By thoughtfully crafting solutions with all of our partners, we have been able to tackle pension reform, our housing crisis, unemployment, and more. That’s why I am bringing that same approach to make sure we produce more new affordable housing than ever before and we improve our transportation network. This is too important to San Franciscans to do anything less. These two measures will ensure we produce the maximum amount of affordable housing for low and middle income families without the unintended consequence of stifling affordable housing production. In addition to affordable housing, San Francisco also deserves a safe, reliable and affordable transportation system and to deliver that we must continue making smart investments in our City’s transportation infrastructure. We have a historic opportunity to invest in the future of transportation in our City, and this investment will make it easier for San Franciscans to get around the City as they go to work, school, home and everywhere in between.”
The housing measure would require the City to conduct an economic feasibility analysis to ensure maximum affordable housing is built by private developers in new housing developments. The study, to be completed by the end of 2016, will recommend adjustments to the City’s inclusionary housing on-site, off-site, and in-lieu fee options, which set rates of affordable housing production in private developments. The goal of the measure is to create the maximum amount of affordable housing that is economically feasible. The Mayor’s measure also requires the City to consider housing for middle-class families, a key priority of the Mayor’s goal to build and preserve 30,000 units of housing in San Francisco by 2020.
To prepare this economic analysis to maximize housing affordability, Mayor Lee reconvened a housing working group, the same group of diverse housing stakeholders that originally built the Housing Trust Fund in 2012 and many of the housing reforms San Francisco has developed and adopted in the last two years. The housing working group assembled consisted of City officials, housing advocates, community leaders and representatives from different sectors of the real estate industry, including affordable housing developers, market rate developers, realtors and small property owners.
Early this year, Mayor Lee introduced five critical pieces of affordable housing legislation including rehabilitating public housing, preserving affordable housing, stabilizing neighborhoods by keeping people in their homes, and keeping neighbors living in their communities, building more affordable units within market rate developments and accelerating and incentivizing the production of more permanently affordable units.
These policies and programs will work in concert with the voter-approved $310 million affordable housing bond that does not raise property taxes to ensure delivery of at least 10,780 units by 2020. Mayor Lee is committed to using every tool, including leveraging local, State, and Federal resources, to build more housing, including advocating for a $350 million piece of State legislation to build 3,000 more affordable units and undertook the most ambitious re-envisioning of public housing in recent American history. Mayor Lee’s planned $2.7 billion investment from the Housing Trust Fund, tax increment and fees over the next 20 years, make up the Mayor’s long-term plan to fight the affordability crisis and shift the balance of housing in the City so that San Francisco remains affordable for low and middle income families over the long term.
The Transportation Infrastructure Policy Declaration would create official City policy for investments in transportation infrastructure and safety projects that would significantly improve San Francisco’s transportation network. The ballot measure is based on policy recommendations from the SF 2030 Transportation Task Force, and will increase Muni reliability and travel speed, upgrade transit stops and stations, improve pedestrian and bicycle safety, invest in regional transportation, and prepare for growth on the City’s busiest traveled corridors.
The 2014 $500 million general obligation bond was one of several recommendations of the SF 2030 Transportation Task Force. Mayor Lee convened the SF 2030 Transportation Task Force to examine San Francisco’s transportation infrastructure needs and prepare for the City’s future. The Task Force found that to meet current need and future demand the city requires several billion dollars of investment in transportation infrastructure through 2030. The City has identified $3.7 billion in funding to date. For the final recommendations of the Mayor’s SF 2030 Transportation Task Force, go to: www.sf-planning.org/index.aspx?page=3427.