A coalition of San Francisco neighborhood, business and civic organizations has filed a lawsuit against the city to block the new Family Zoning Plan that seeks to build taller and denser housing developments in the city’s north and west sides.
The plan, also known as Upzone 2025, was proposed by Mayor Danile Lurie and approved last month by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The plan seeks to create tens of thousands of new homes while complying with a state mandate to develop an additional 36,000 housing units by 2031. The city has until Jan. 31 to adopt a new zoning plan or risk losing millions in state funding and the ability to locally control zoning rules.
Courthouse News Service reports the lawsuit claims the plan was pushed through without a prior environmental review, which runs afoul of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Instead, the lawsuit states city used on an addendum to the environmental impact report prepared in 2022 that did not consider the possibility of as many as 4,000 additional residential units or building heights up to 350 feet taller than analyzed.
Furthermore, the lawsuit noted construction is being positioned in the historic North Beach and Fisherman’s Wharf areas and in formerly off-limits lower-income neighborhoods.
“This action challenges the city’s failure to conduct CEQA review for the 2025 Upzone, despite extensive expert evidence showing that the 2025 Upzone will displace thousands of low-income residents living in rent-controlled buildings, will harm hundreds of historic buildings [and] will generate air pollution far above CEQA significance thresholds,” the lawsuit declared.
Neighborhoods United SF, Small Business Forward and two local residents filed the petition in state court to block the plan and have the city withdraw any permits that were already approved.
Jen Kwart, a spokesperson for City Attorney David Chiu defended the plan, stating, “The city took deliberate steps to comply with its obligations under state law, including CEQA. We are comforted that the California Department of Housing and Community Development reviewed the Family Zoning Plan and felt it complied with state law. We will review any lawsuit once we are served and will have more to say in court.”
