If there was one thing Mayor Daniel Lurie wanted to communicate Monday night, it was that his plan to upzone San Francisco needed to pass. Not just because it was good policy, but because the alternative would be far worse.
“If it does not pass, let’s just be clear: The state comes in and does this work for us,” Lurie told a room filled with about 100 Sunset residents and business owners at an upzoning forum at the Sunset Recreation Center.
After all, the mayor said, the city is increasing the heights that housing developers can build to because of a state requirement. The city must rezone so that housing production goals can be met, or risk losing its power to approve — or reject — all new housing, the state has told the city.
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“There could be towers everywhere,” Lurie said gravely, emphasizing each word.
But the crowd he faced still seemed extremely skeptical, expressing concerns in question after question.
And some seemed ready, perhaps, to back up their dissatisfaction with action. They sported gear emblazoned with the yellow “Recall Engardio” logo, leftovers from the successful recall of District 4 Supervisor Joel Engardio in September — a campaign that reverberated with the threat to exact further revenge on any elected official who advanced the upzoning plan.
“Our neighborhood businesses are a crossroads of people, culture, language. Those folks do not move and go somewhere else,” said retired police commander Rich Corriea, an audience member.
He asked the mayor to provide “a little more granularity about my corner grocery store, where I bring my grandson to meet the owner, and Joe’s Ice Cream, and other places like that, that will be gone.”
“That’s what scares folks in the neighborhood,” Corriea added.
“I understand there’s fear that people are going to just start bulldozing. I’ve heard that I’m a bulldozer,” Lurie said in a 60-minute appearance with pointed questions but a courteous crowd. “But let me just say, to say that they’re all going to be gone the next day, that’s not fair.”
Plus, Lurie added, the plan will bring benefits to business owners, too: Namely, more customers.
But the Corriea’s fears were not assuaged.
“When I use the word scared, that’s heartfelt,” he followed up. “We’re scared. So should you advance public policy before dealing with the fear in the community?”
“I appreciate that,” the mayor replied, placing his hand on Corriea’s shoulder. “As a San Franciscan, I don’t want high-rises everywhere … As mayor, I’m going to do everything in my power to protect our small businesses.”
“Thank you very much for that,” Corriea responded, adding a grumbled, “You should’ve heard Scott a few minutes ago.”
The mayor had not been the only elected official invited to the town hall. In a separate appearance — leaving before Lurie arrived — State Sen. Scott Wiener answered questions for 45 minutes.
Unlike the mayor, who could justify the rezoning as a state requirement, Wiener had more to answer for as a proud YIMBY who had helped craft many of the laws now forcing the city’s hand.
Wiener wrote SB 828, the 2018 law that increased the amount of housing San Francisco was required to build, for instance.
And this year, Wiener authored SB 79, which would make it easier for developers to build housing near public transit stops. It is now sitting on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, and will be signed or vetoed by Oct. 12.
At the town hall, Wiener stood by these policies staunchly.
“Why did you draft a state mandate to have every city upzone without any sensitivities to individual characters of each city, so that the state remedies would almost certainly destroy local uniqueness?” one person asked, to a smattering of applause throughout the room.
“That’s like the ‘when did you start beating your spouse’ question,” Wiener shot back. “I completely dispute the premise of that question.”
“Oh wow…” people in the crowd scoffed.
“Cities have the ability to craft their own alternative option that implements the goals of the bill, but does it in a way that works for that city,” Wiener said, returning to the dry, policy-focused responses that made up the majority of his answers.
In the face of irate questions, Wiener reiterated his pro-building stance. “I don’t think new housing is dumping on anyone,” he said, eliciting a wave of groans.
“When you don’t build enough housing, people get pushed out,” he added.
But, does this new housing have to be in the Sunset?
“Have you looked into upzoning Presidio Heights, Pacific Heights, Forest Hill, St. Francis Wood?” one person asked Lurie later, eliciting laughs and claps from the audience.
His response: “The answer is yes.”
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Io Yeh Gilman
REPORTER. Io is a staff reporter covering city hall as a part of Report for America, which supports journalists in local newsrooms. She was born and raised in San Francisco and previously reported on the city while working for her high school newspaper, The Lowell. Io studied the history of science at Harvard and wrote for The Harvard Crimson.More by Io Yeh Gilman
