The San Francisco Planning Commission meetings have become shorter and less frequent due to changes in state laws and a decrease in the number of projects being proposed. In the last three months, seven of the commission’s weekly meetings were canceled altogether.
State Laws and Streamlined Approvals
Years of changes to state and local laws have made housing projects easier to move from conception to construction, bypassing the Planning Commission and its discretionary review entirely. For example, SB 423, a 2023 state bill, fast-tracks approvals for projects in jurisdictions that aren’t meeting state housing goals, such as San Francisco. Additionally, AB 2011, a 2022 bill, does the same for projects in commercial areas.
The Planning Commission will still weigh in on some projects that don’t qualify for streamlined permitting. However, most projects will essentially get a rubber stamp from the Planning Department, also known as “ministerial approval.” This is the case for projects like the 25-story Marina Safeway proposal and the six-story wedge-shaped apartment building in the Mission District.
Impact on the Commission
The Planning Commission has become a less consequential body in shaping development as it moves forward, according to Annie Fryman, who works on housing policy at SPUR, an urbanist think tank. Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who served on the Planning Commission from 2016 to 2020, also noted changes in how the Commission operates, stating that its power over individual properties is far less today.
Dan Sider, chief of staff for the San Francisco Planning Department, said that the “ever-evolving armada of state laws really changed the Planning Commission from a body focused on project-specific approvals, to one that gets to focus on the biggest projects and most importantly, policy.”
Despite the decrease in project approvals, the Commission still has an important role in shaping the city’s development. However, with four vacancies on the commission, including one to be filled by Mayor Daniel Lurie and another three to be filled by Board President Rafael Mandelman, the future of the Commission remains uncertain.
Original reporting: Mission Local — read the source article.
