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Monday, June 15, 2009

Renters and Tenants Rights Victory in San Francisco


Previous legislative attempts to legitimize "secondary units" has generally been extraordinarily contentious as they were geared toward circumventing existing Building, Planning and Housing Codes. A legislative solution to this question has been politically elusive for more than 15 years.
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Photo of San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi by Luke Thomas, published of the SF local politics blog, Fog City Journal.
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With the creation of Neighborhood Commercial Transit (NCT) and Residential Transit- Oriented (RTO) zoning and their innovative policy of parking maximums and transit corridor density increases, the planning code impediment to legitimization of the accessory units is no longer an issue. This legislation, "Amended Certificate of Occupancy," allows legitimization of existing units that comply with the building and housing codes that were in effect at the time the units were built within those zoning districts.
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This is an important, if incremental, first step in bringing these unwarranted units out of the closet and openly contributing to the city's housing resources. This legislation allows, if the new unit complies with the then existing code, an amended certificate of occupancy to be issued without revisiting review of the entire building since it would not trigger new requirements for the building.
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On June 1st at the hearing before the Land Use Committee, the legislation championed by San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi was broadly supported by a number of organizations usually at odds with each other on land use issues. The SF Apartment Association, Council of Community Housing Organizations, SF Tenant's Union, SF Housing Action Coalition, Housing Rights Committee, AIDS Housing Alliance, Chinatown Community Development Center, and West of Twin Peaks Council among other were represented.
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Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi has been a primary and leading champion of tenants rights in San Francisco for many years and is very gratified by the broad-based support this measure has received and is very appreciative of the fact that organizations that usually find themselves on opposite sides of the table are on the same page with this ordinance. Video of the June 1st Land use hearing can be found here.
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on Monday, June 15, 2009

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