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by\u00a0Junyao Yang<\/a><\/strong> November 21, 2025 (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/newspack-missionlocal.s3.amazonaws.com\/mission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/richmond-townhall-upzoning-2-780x585.jpg\")
It was Mayor Daniel Lurie\u2019s first town hall to discuss his plan to upzone<\/a> the low-slung Richmond District, among several other neighborhoods<\/a>, mostly in the west<\/a> and north<\/a> of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the night wore on, the crowd was tough, and the normally even-keeled mayor grew increasingly feisty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Residents asked repeatedly how he would protect the district\u2019s rent-controlled housing<\/a> from being demolished and replaced with new, market-rate units, and keep tenants from being displaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Want the latest on the Mission and San Francisco? Sign up for our free daily newsletter<\/strong> below.Sign up<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why couldn\u2019t the mayor\u2019s zoning plan be changed to provide more protections for the local businesses and residents of the Richmond? Surely, there must be alternatives? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lurie\u2019s response was, essentially, that protections against these kinds of demolitions do<\/em> exist: The city has some of the strongest rent-control protections in the state, he said, and that will continue under the new plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Due to these protections, for the past decade when the city\u2019s eastern neighborhoods have already been upzoned, demolition of rent controlled units was \u201cextremely rare.\u201d On average, only seven units of multifamily housing were demolished every year, said Rachael Tanner, director of citywide planning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And, Lurie said, community feedback<\/a> has already been taken and the time for alternatives is over. To say, as speakers did, that the mayor\u2019s office hasn\u2019t listened \u201cis unfair,\u201d Lurie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The alternatives could be worse, he added. Any more compromises and the state could impose the \u201cbuilder\u2019s remedy,\u201d he said, to completely remove San Francisco\u2019s ability to approve or reject future housing projects within city boundaries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t do it the San Francisco way, it\u2019s going to get done to us the Sacramento way,\u201d he said. The crowd hissed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople have said, \u2018Sue the state.\u2019 Just sue them and fight,\u201d Lurie said. At this, the audience gave out a loud cheer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOther counties have,\u201d Lurie continued. \u201cAnd they have lost. And builder\u2019s remedy has come in and they have lost funding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are in an environment where we have a federal government that is not going to be helpful to our city,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have a budget deficit that is worse this coming year. I don\u2019t want to risk losing more state funding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The mayor\u2019s upzoning plan has already been reviewed by state officials to make sure that it was in alignment with state housing goals. Supervisors this week passed what will likely be the plan\u2019s final amendments<\/a> before it will be voted on by the full Board of Supervisors in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the questions began to repeat themselves, Lurie got increasingly frustrated. The plan has already gone through a lot of changes that incorporated feedback from the community, he said, including an amendment from District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar that will exempt<\/a> buildings with three or more rent-controlled units from the new zoning plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan<\/a> had proposed amendments<\/a> to the zoning plan that would have exempted all existing housing, coastal areas, and historic districts from upzoning, and lowered heights on commercial corridors within her district, among other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But those amendments were tabled by the Land Use and Transportation Committee, and are no longer a part of the plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Chan was not at the town hall, but her aide was, alongside former District 1 Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer. Fewer is now the vice president of Richmond District Democratic Club, which organized the event and served as its moderator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lurie reminded the audience, four times, that the upzoning mostly applies to commercial streets and transit and pedestrian corridors \u2014 for 77 percent of the upzoning map, \u201cyou can\u2019t go higher than it\u2019s currently zoned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That, he said, was the result of compromise in the face of community feedback. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The upzoning, in fact, may have a much more limited effect than anticipated. Even in the best-case scenario, the mayor\u2019s upzoning plan would lead to only about 14,600 additional units<\/a> over the next 20 years, according to an October report from the city controller\u2019s office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The state mandate requires the city to create capacity for 36,000 additional housing units by 2031.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hour-long town hall at the Internet Archive<\/a> on Thursday evening ended with a passionate debate between Lurie and Fewer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fewer began to press Lurie on the question of alternatives. Seventy-two thousand units of housing had already been approved<\/a> by the city\u2019s planning commission. Wasn\u2019t there a way to incentivize or mandate developers to build that<\/em> housing, instead of relying on zoning changes to meet the state housing goals? <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCan we submit an alternate plan?\u201d Fewer asked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe plan is<\/em> being altered,\u201d Lurie responded, referring to the amendments, passed<\/a> by the Land Use and Transportation Commission on Monday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI meant an alternate plan that includes a plan to either incentivize or mandate the 72,000 units that could break ground tomorrow,\u201d Fewer said. \u201cHow can we allow them to hold our city \u2014 which is only 49 square miles \u2014 hostage until they are ready to make their adequate profit?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The city should \u201cput our foot down,\u201d Fewer added, to mandate developers to build those approved housing units, and stop granting extensions to stall development. Sure, interest rates are high and so are construction costs, but if they need financing to start development, the city could help with that. \u201cIf they refuse, why are we not invoking eminent domain?\u201d Fewer said, as the crowd began to cheer, loudly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho\u2019s gonna pay them?\u201d Lurie said quietly. \u201cWe have the money?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The mayor\u2019s upzoning plan has already taken the units in the city\u2019s housing pipeline into consideration, added Tanner, the planning director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe city is currently incentivizing developers by expediting permitting,\u201d Tanner added. \u201cBut it\u2019s difficult to compel someone to do something, particularly if it requires them to spend money.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of the town hall, Lurie seemed to have heard enough. \u201cTo say we have not worked hand in hand with supervisors and community members, that we haven\u2019t made adjustments, is just not true,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe underlying question here is,\u201d Fewer pressed again. \u201cCan we have an alternate plan instead of \u2026 \u201d At this, Lurie interrupted her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cActually what\u2019s gonna happen is \u2026 there\u2019s gonna be a vote at the Board of Supervisors. We are gonna see. And the plan is going to be submitted. It\u2019s gone through the whole democratic process,\u201d Lurie said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd I just want to remind everybody, there are people that are really excited about this plan.\u201d That does not, he added, have to include the people present tonight. \u201cBut there are a lot of people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n We have a big year-end goal: <\/strong>$300,000 by Dec. 31. Thanks to generous donors, every dollar donated up to $76,500<\/strong> will be doubled!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s more important than ever that everyone<\/em> has access to news that reports, explains and keeps them informed. Paywalls don\u2019t serve anyone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Your support makes it possible <\/em>for Mission Local\u2019s content to be forever free \u2014 for everyone<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n about:blank<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donate<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n junyao@missionlocal.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Junyao covers San Francisco’s Westside, from the Richmond to the Sunset. She moved to the Inner Sunset in 2023, after receiving her Master\u2019s degree from UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. You can find her skating at Golden Gate Park or getting a scoop at Hometown Creamery.More by Junyao Yang<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Richmond residents want mayor\u2019s upzoning plan to change. Lurie says time for change is over. by\u00a0Junyao Yang November 21, 2025 (MissionLocal.org) It was Mayor Daniel Lurie\u2019s first town hall to discuss his plan to upzone the low-slung Richmond District, among several other neighborhoods, mostly in the west and north of the city. As the night wore on,… Continue reading ![\"Mission](\"https:\/\/newspack-missionlocal.s3.amazonaws.com\/mission\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/mission-local-logo-300x300.jpg\"){kind=logo}
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Latest on housing<\/mark><\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nOne of S.F.\u2019s largest landlords could lose up to 428 units of housing<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMission tenants facing temporary eviction fear they won\u2019t return<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nS.F. begins towing RVs. Dozens more are at risk.<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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