Thread by @qwhelan

The SF BOS has put forward a ballot proposition to "upzone RH-1" parcels.

I've made a plot of them.

No, you don't need your eyes checked - they amount to just 0.46% of the city.

That's such a small impact that you can go through and look at every parcel in the city. So I did.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton First off, here's the basic claim - that we'll be building affordable housing in single-family home areas.

As I'll show in a bit, almost all of these lots will never have any housing on them.

https://twitter.com/MattHaneySF/status/1150830465416228864

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton Here's Sup. Haney's housing aide tweeting that there are 216 RH-1 parcels impacted by the ballot prop. I got 217, so I'm quite close!

If you’re concerned about the discrepancy, please ask him to respond to my data request 🙂

https://twitter.com/courtneyannmcd/status/1150995741617246208

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton The bad news.

CIE ~= churches + schools
Open Space = parks that are zoned RH-1. There's a few!

The BOS says they want to bulldoze these areas for affordable housing.

These two areas we'll clearly never build in make up 60%+ of the proposal.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton For those of you wondering why we can’t build near churches or schools, the issue is that both tend to be near parks and playgrounds. And that's when the Shadow Ordinance kills projects.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton As a recent example, here’s a 63-unit building that was killed earlier this year for increasing the amount of shadow by 0.38% (not a typo):
sfchronicle.com/politics/artic…

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton Here's one of the 216 lots. Much of St. Ignatius Prep is near multiple parks and playgrounds, including its own. Any housing here would be killed by the same supervisors who are proposing this ordinance:

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton As for an example of “Open Space”, here’s Tank Hill Park, fully owned by @RecParkSF yet zoned RH-1(D). The supervisors want us to believe they’ll build affordable housing here.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF For those who want to play along at home, I made an interactive map with every parcel.

Special thanks to @sbuss for sharing his code that's the basis of this analysis!

qwhelan.github.io/sf_bos_sfh/

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss The SF BOS scoured the city for affordable housing sites and the best they can do is the backyard of a waste treatment plant.

Apparently it has “sophisticated odor control”

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss The SF BOS wants to downzone Sutro Tower by 900+ feet to build affordable housing.

If you're not convinced that this proposal is a sham, well, I've got 200+ parcels left for you.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss On a more serious note, fully 22 of 216 parcels (10.2%) are located within Visitacion Valley near the site of the old Geneva Towers.

This proposal very effectively targets a large fraction of the open space in this neighborhood.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss Don't tell the @SFGiants, but the SF BOS is bulldozing this elementary school baseball field:

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants Yes, the lot line goes right up to the tracks. Yes, that's an incredibly steep and unstable hillside. Why do you ask?

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants Everyone's favorite parcel makes an appearance.

You may know it as a literal street called Presidio Terrace. The SFBOS knows it as several of the 216 best spots for affordable housing in SF.

If only they had known when they voted to return it to the HOA in late 2017

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants In case you think this is an amusing coincidence, let me assure you it is not.

The SF BOS, in their infinite wisdom, has decided that every other privately owned street in SF is also prime teacher housing real estate.

I know you don't believe me, so I'm going to list them all

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants Skyline Blvd
Habitat Terrace
Buckingham Way
Blair Terrace

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants Bayshore Blvd
Lincoln Ct
Circular Ave
Auto Drive + Unnamed Road

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants Littlefield Terrace and Claire Terrace

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants 👾 <- aff housing
💥
⚡
⚡
⚡
🛩️ <- SFBOS

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants And no, it is not legal to build on streets, even if they're upzoned.

This is not a good-faith proposal.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants Speaking of good faith, here are the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.

They focus on treating abused women with alcohol and drug addiction.

Everybody say "bye sisters!"

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants That's because their convent is one of the 216 best places in SF to build affordable housing.

Never mind that they're living there.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants Just to remind everyone of the math:

- Started with 216 (or 217) parcels
- Ruled out 116 for being literal schools and parks.
- That gives 100 parcels
- I just listed ~40 parcels that would be totally bonkers and/or illegal to build upon
- We're down to ***~60 left (~25%)***

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants Don’t get me wrong, there are some prime lots that I completely agree should have affordable housing on them.

How many affordable housing units do you think we can build here, on St. Francis Wood’s fountain?

We all know the actual number built will be 0.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants Sometimes there's just weird legal cases. Midtown Terrace has its backyards commonly owned by the HOA, making it appear like it has no housing.

Again, this right here is 3 of the 216 parcels proposed and will net no new housing.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants This is another famous parcel - the site of the proposed Forest Hill senior housing that was killed.

Not sure if this will make that project come back from the dead, but this is one of the few realistic sites I've found.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants This is another - the Excelsior affordable housing site. Project seems to be dead, so maybe this will help slightly?

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants At the same time, there are sites like 760 El Camino del Mar in Seacliff.

It's clearly a backyard for the house next door, who is paying 1970s property taxes on this second lot.

And yet it's counted as one of the 216.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants Here's the SF BOS doing what no other city has done - zoned for the next ice age.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants Here's another bold proposal: teacher housing on Twin Peaks.

No, not the flat-ish area on the peak, that's too sensible.

We're going to build it on the ~steeper~ hillside beneath the road.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants Hope you don't like cell service and TV, because this is where the BoS thinks affordable housing should go

h/t @MikeSchiraldi

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants @MikeSchiraldi This photo has 0 parcels in it.

Why? Because it's District 3 and @AaronPeskin strikes again

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants @MikeSchiraldi Here's a bit of China Beach the supervisors want to build affordable housing on.

It'd have an incredible view if it weren't illegal under multiple environmental laws.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants @MikeSchiraldi In case it's not clear at this point, no one who looked at these parcels would ever seriously propose this.

Which leaves the following options:
- they don't have the competence to look
- they did it for a rhetorical victory and don't actually care about the intended goal

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants @MikeSchiraldi This is the Curtis E. Green Light Rail Center.

For the low, low price of eliminating the J and K/T Muni lines (they really, really need the attached depot), we can have a smidgen of affordable housing!

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants Also, this "the backyards are legally another parcel" occurs a few other times and accounts for at least a dozen parcels total.

Here's Lake Merced Heights. The slice of the neighboring golf course could make this workable

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants Here's another on Topaz Way

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants @MikeSchiraldi I know I've mostly avoid listing churches and such, but I love how many religions the supervisors are upzoning at once in this photo.

The section of golf course is another of the handful of good sites proposed.

@sfbos @MattHaneySF @AaronPeskin @SandraLeeFewer @shamannwalton @RecParkSF @sbuss @SFGiants @MikeSchiraldi And here's a 3-story senior housing complex that's getting torn down for affordable housing!

Parcel 7380/039

Minor point of clarification: this is only the RH-1 part of a larger bill.

However, from a parcel level, it's the only part that matters, as this is the only part of the BOS bill that's plausibly better than the mayor's version.

More context:

https://twitter.com/graue/status/1153875516010553344?s=09