As part of their efforts of increasing the number of affordable housing in the city, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee encourages private developers to contribute more in providing more affordable housing units for its citizens.
According to sfexaminer.com, Lee announced last Thursday that he's trying to push an amendment to their November 2016 Ballot that will require private developers to increase the percentage of affordable housing units in their upcoming residential development projects.
The proposed amendment will aid with the city's Proposition K that will require 33 percent of the new homes to be below- market range. The mayor decided to pursue this amendment as currently, most of the newest residential projects developments don't include below- market homes. However, city's major project such as 5M and Mission Rock allotted 40 percent of its homes to affordable housing program.
Mayor Lee said "The housing trust set the standard in which to operate. Since that time, we've invested [huge] monies in neighborhood stabilization, public use of land that we can buy with city general funds [and] housing. Still, [it's] not enough. We recognize the crisis commands us to do even more."
The current inclusionary housing program requires developers to have "at least 10 residential units to build 12 percent of below market-rate housing either on the same site as the market-rate project. They can also choose to build 20 percent of such units at another location, or pay a fee."
In a report by sfgate.com, Peter Cohen of the Council of Community Housing Organizations said that mayor's decision of amendment for the November 2016 ballot is "certainly a step in the right direction at this point, and frankly I think San Francisco voters are expecting this."
"The mayor is reading the writing on the wall very well. What I hope is that the proposal that comes out of the city working group is proportionate to the magnitude of the city's affordability crisis. This is not a time for small or simple symbolic gestures," he added.
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