A vote by the San Francisco Board of Directors on Tuesday rejecting a new housing development in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood was criticized by Mayor London Breed.
The development, a 495-unit apartment complex, about a quarter of which is reserved for “affordable” units as required by the affordable housing mandates, was in a parking lot on Stevenson and Sixth Streets near the Suggested Powell Street BART station.
But a majority of overseers voted against the proposal, another focal point in the so-called “NIMBY vs. YIMBY” debate on development – an issue that has led one of America’s most expensive cities to rent and own homes.
Of the 11 seated supervisors, the three who assisted development are District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney, District 2 Supervisor Catherine Stefani, and District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safai.
The project would have been in the area represented by Haney, who loudly denounced his co-supervisors for his rejection.
“Our city has a massively imbalanced ratio of jobs / apartments,” Haney said Tuesday evening on Twitter. “We approve and build office jobs, but not apartments. It is completely untenable. “
Tonight the board turned down a 495 unit housing project in my district in a parking lot on Stevenson / 6th.
It was about 24% affordable with 100+ affordable units, close to public transportation, communal areas on the ground floor, and extensive neighborhood support from residents and executives.
– Matt Haney (@MattHaneySF) October 27, 2021
He also argued that the project created jobs for construction workers, citing “comprehensive neighborhood help” for construction. (Haney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.)
Mayor London Breed agreed, held the eight supervisors who opposed the vote accountable and called their vote on Twitter part of an “anti-housing ideology”. Preston as “vague”.
Shortly after the vote, Stefani tweeted: “We have to stop allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good.”
