By Christin Evans, HANC Board Member

HANC's monthly (except August) general membership meeting is usually held downstairs at the Park Branch Library, 1833 Page Street (between Cole and Shrader) on the second Thursday of the month, beginning at 7 pm.  Our meetinngs are open to the public and free to attend. 

At the February 13 meeting of the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council (HANC), we will host speakers in favor of Propositions D and E.

Proposition D

Proposition D had more than a year-long journey to the ballot.  Initially floated in 2018, the proposal by Supervisor Aaron Peskin sought to respond to concerns by neighbors and businesses about the increasing number of storefront vacancies in the North Beach district.

As a representative of the Haight Ashbury Merchants Association (HAMA), I contacted Peskin’s office offering my support, as we had similarly seen not only an increase in vacancies, but also vacancies along Haight Street which were sitting for years without “for rent” signs in the window.Most notably on the 1600 block of Haight street, we had the Haight Street Shoe Repair space empty since 2016 and the For Kids Only clothing store empty since 2017 (both business owners had retired and the building began a soft story retrofit project but no attempts to fill the commercial spaces had been made since that time).  When storefronts are left vacant for long periods, it reduces overall foot traffic to the block and reduces sales for neighboring businesses. Residents and merchants both complain of increased trash, blight and panhandling which take place in front of these vacancies. And the city is slow to notify property owners as to their obligation to remove graffiti and sweep doorways of debris.

But predictably, the real estate interests decried that the vacancies were not for a lack of trying to fill the spaces, but rather due to the delays that the city’s planning department creates for change of use, or conditional uses.  So Peskin’s legislation was put on hold.

In 2019, Supervisor Vallie Brown pushed an alternative “carrot” plan to loosen zoning restrictions, with the aim of filling some of the citywide vacancies.  The measure did eventually pass the Board of Supervisors but with a very narrow scope.  For example, Haight Street now allows arcades (without liquor licenses) to operate. To note, no arcades have since come into any Haight Street vacancy since the legislation passed, likely because the business model is not feasible in the spaces which are asking $15,000 per month and more.

So the loosened zoning didn’t get the vacancies filled, and a more progressive leaning Board gave Supervisor Peskin the confidence to resume efforts and secure the necessary votes to place a measure onto the ballot this March which will tax landlords for leaving storefronts  vacant for 6 months or more.  Because it’s a tax which directs proceeds into a specific fund to benefit struggling small businesses, the measure requires two-thirds support at the ballot.

If the measure passes, landlords will be fined $250-$1000 per linear foot of storefront, depending on how many years the storefront has been vacant.  For an average storefront of 25 linear feet, that could mean a tax of $6250-$25,000 annually for landlords who fail to fill spaces quickly.

There are opportunities for property owners to avoid the tax up to 3 years in the case they’ve pulled a building permit and/or have a conditional use application pending.  Longer grace periods are given too in the case of a fire or other catastrophic event.

After several of the progressive supervisors lent their support, including D5’s current Supervisor Dean Preston, who was early to support, moderate officials followed suit, including notably Scott Weiner, David Chiu and London Breed.  The SF Chronicle even gave the measure its tepid support in its pages this past week. With broad support, the measure is nearly certain to pass, but nothing is taken as a given with all eyes on the California Association of Realtors, who may decide to oppose the measure with a concern it could set a precedent for future vacancy taxes, such as for office and residential spaces, if Prop D succeeds.

At HANC’s February meeting, Daniel Anderson from Neighbors for Small Business, Yes on D will be in attendance to answer your questions.

Proposition E

At HANC’s February meeting, Calvin Welch will also be on hand to explain Proposition E, which enjoys broad progressive support, but is being aggressively opposed by the Mayor and the City’s big business interests.  The measure seeks to restrict new commercial office space until San Francisco meets 100% of its affordable housing production goals.

Does San Francisco need more office space?  Yes, argues the city’s largest property developers--to meet the growing demand for San Francisco’s rapidly growing businesses.  But at what cost to the city’s current residents? In a city which has prided itself on being welcome to all, the rapid growth and importation of a largely white affluent techno-class has come at the expense of the city’s most vulnerable residents. Evictions and displacement have led to the displacement of seniors, the poor, the working class (the city’s definition of affordable housing is now totally out of reach for minimum and moderate wage workers as well!) and has sent the cost of living wildly out of control for the majority of residents.

Proposition E -- placed on the ballot with the help of SOMA nonprofit and housing provider TODCO – seems so sensible:  that the city hold itself accountable to its own affordable housing goals before new office space is permitted.  The measure doesn’t hold up any office project proposals already in the Planning Department’s queue, but would limit new projects from being permitted unless 100% of the affordable housing goals are met.

But sensible isn’t what’s on the minds of the Mayor and her monied backers, who are fighting the measure.  Fear mongering, they say that restricting office space will have catastrophic effects on the city’s economy.  The San Francisco Business Times complains every time a mid-size company moves workers out of the City, while it simultaneously celebrates the fat profits and windfalls developers reap with every new construction site breaks ground. 

The problem is that the City’s own report shows that for every 1 million square feet of new office space built, the city falls 513 more units behind in our affordable housing needs. That’s a growing hole that the city needs to fill first BEFORE the new office space is approved.

HANC’s next meeting, with speakers in support of Propositions D and E, will take place on February 13th at 7 pm at the Park Branch Library at 1833 Page Street.