Mark Leno’s Senate Bill 1439 which seeks “to ensure that real estate speculators in San Francisco do not buy rent-controlled property and empty it of long-term tenants” failed to clear the Senate Floor yesterday in a 18-19 vote.  A motion to reconsider the Bill was approved, however, and Leno... Read More »

Seeking “to ensure that real estate speculators in San Francisco do not buy rent-controlled property and empty it of long-term tenants” and written to freeze Ellis Act evictions in San Francisco until a landlord has owned a building for at least five years, Mark Leno’s Senate Bill 1439 cleared... Read More »

Originally written to become operative 120 days after enactment, the legislation which will require landlords in San Francisco who evoke the Ellis Act to pay their evicted tenants an upfront sum equal to the difference between their current rent and a market rate unit over the course of two... Read More »

Building owners with an unpermitted in-law constructed prior to January 1, 2013 will now have the option of legalizing the unit by way of the legislation adopted by San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors last night. As we wrote about the legislation when it was first proposed: Unless a significant... Read More »

On the agenda for San Francisco’s Planning Commission this week, an ordinance to tighten-up the language in San Francisco’s Planning Code which governs the legal demolition, merger and conversion of existing residential units in San Francisco, intended to preserve the stock of affordable housing within the city. Fearing an... Read More »

With supervisors Farrell, Tang, and Wiener opposing, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors have voted 8-3 to adopt the proposed condominium conversion lottery bypass legislation as last amended. Assuming it isn’t vetoed by the Mayor, the legislation will establish a bypass period during which qualifying TICs can condo convert for... Read More »

With no specific policies, procedures or standards currently in place, on Thursday San Francisco’s Planning Commission will vote on whether or not to initiate discussion for a planning code ordinance specifically related to bird-strikes and building design. The proposed Ordinance would amend the Planning Code to achieve the following:... Read More »

Mayor Newsom symbolically signed into law San Francisco’s Green Landscaping Ordinance last week on Earth Day, and the Planning Department has now published a full Guide. The goals of the ordinance: “Healthier and more plentiful plantings through screening, parking lot, and street tree controls; Increased permeability through front yard... Read More »

A planning code amendment “to address screening, greening, street tree, and permeability requirements; creating definitions for “vehicle use area,” “ornamental fencing,” and “permeable surface;” requirements for the establishment of new street trees, replacement of dead street trees, and removal of street trees and climate appropriate standards for... Read More »