San Francisco Voters Approve Affordable Housing Plan

San Francisco voters have given municipal leaders the authority to adjust affordable housing requirements in new residential developments.

According to a San Francisco Examiner report, more than two-thirds of voters gave their approval to Proposition C, which shifts the authority on affordable housing mandates from referendum balloting to the Board of Supervisors. With this new authority, city legislators can now mandate inclusionary housing measures—with forces developers to set aside percentages of below market-rate units in residential developments. Prop. C also gives the City Controller the responsibility to conduct feasibility studies of affordable housing requirements if the Board of Supervisors decides to update the inclusionary housing rate.

Supervisor Jane Kim welcomed Proposition C as a strategy to address San Francisco’s continuing problems in maintaining an affordable housing base.

“Market-rate today in your average condo being built in South of Market [or] Mission Bay is 270 percent of [area] median income,” Kim said ahead of the vote. “That means if you are a household of four, two adults, two kids, you are making $270,000 a year. That is who the market is building for today.”