Planning Code - Group Housing Definition
Ord. No. 0050-22
in effectAMENDED IN COMMITTEE
FILE NO. 211299
2/28/2022
ORDINANCE NO. 50-22
[Planning Code - Group Housing Definition]
Ordinance amending the Planning Code to revise the definition of Group Housing;
affirming the Planning Department's determination under the California Environmental
Quality Act; and making findings of consistency with the General Plan and the eight
priority policies of Planning Code, Section 101.1, and findings of public necessity,
convenience, and welfare under Planning Code, Section 302.
NOTE:
Unchanged Code text and uncodified text are in plain Arial font.
Additions to Codes are in single-underline italics Times New Roman font.
Deletions to Codes are in strikethrough italics Times }.few Roman font.
Board amendment additions are in double-underlined Arial font.
Board amendment deletions are in strikethrough Arial font.
Asterisks(* * * *) indicate the omission of unchanged Code
subsections or parts of tables.
Be it ordained by the People of the City and County of San Francisco:
Section 1. Environmental and Land Use Findings.
(a) The Planning Department has determined that the actions contemplated in this
ordinance comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (California Public Resources
Code Sections 21000 et seq.). Said determination is on file with the Clerk of the Board of
Supervisors in File No. 211299 and is incorporated herein by reference. The Board affirms
this determination.
(b) On February 10, 2022, the Planning Commission, in Resolution No. 21071,
adopted findings that the actions contemplated in this ordinance are consistent, on balance,
with the City's General Plan and eight priority policies of Planning Code Section 101.1. The
Board adopts these findings as its own. A copy of said Resolution is on file with the Clerk of
the Board of Supervisors in File No. 211299, and is incorporated herein by reference.
Supervisors Peskin; Walton, Mandelman, Ronen, Melgar, Preston
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
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(c) Pursuant to Planning Code Section 302, the Board of Supervisors finds that the
Planning Code amendments will serve the public necessity, convenience, and welfare for the
reasons set forth in Planning Commission Resolution No. 21071, and the Board incorporates
such reasons herein by reference.
Section 2. Other Findings.
(a) In 2005, the Zoning Administrator issued an interpretation of the Planning Code
definition of Group Housing that allowed Group Housing to include limited kitchens, similar to
the Planning Code definition of Dwelling Unit, which made it more difficult to distinguish
between a residential Dwelling Unit and a Group Housing unit.
(b) The intent of a Group Housing development is to create successful communal
living arrangement for permanent residents, largely achieved by shifting the private amenities
required in standard Dwelling Units, such as kitchens, to communal facilities shared by all
project residents, thus encouraging shared social interactions and shared stewardship of the
facility.
(c) The Planning Department has partnered with California College of the Arts to study
current Group Housing developments and analyze best practices, and has prepared
recommendations on how to improve the definition of Group Housing in the Planning Code,
many of which are reflected in this ordinance.
(d) In 2002, San Francisco adopted its first lnclusionary Housing Ordinance, which
requires that projects with ten or more units designate a percentage of units on-site as
"affordable for purchase ... and rent" by moderate, low, and very low-income households, with
the stated goal of addressing San Francisco's affordable housing crisis. On-site affordable
units capture the social benefits of integrated below-market and market rate housing. The
lnclusionary Housing Ordinance was subsequently updated in 2016 and 2017.
Supervisors Peskin; Walton, Mandelman, Ronen, Melgar, Preston
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
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(e) In 2002, the Planning Department reported that between 1992 and 2002 only
"3, 1991 units of low and very low-income housing were built in San Francisco out of a total
need of 15, 103 units for the same period." This effort has not improved in the last two
decades. The Planning Department's April 2021 Housing Balance Report shows that very-low
income units (including units for extremely low-income residents eligible for homeless
subsidies) and low-income units made up only 19% of net new units constructed between the
first quarter of 2011 through the fourth quarter of 2020. These numbers pale in comparison to
the need for such housing. The Association of Bay Area Governments' 2023-2031 Draft
Regional Housing Needs Assessment identifies San Francisco's need for 114,442 units of
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very-low income housing, or 25.9% of total housing need, and 65,892 units of low-income
housing, or 14.9% of total housing need. Together, San Francisco's Regional Housing Needs
Assessment HNA calls for over 40% of all units as below market rate units.
(f) Group Housing developments, while designed for permanent residents, are
nonetheless tailored to residents who are in a transitional stage in their lives, either as a
function of their employment situation or their student status. The smaller floor plans and
scaled-back private amenities of individual units are marketed to and designed for residents
who are primarily seeking to rent a unit, and not residents who seek to purchase a unit.
(g) Group Housing ownership units run the risk of becoming unregulated corporate
rentals or second and third homes for San Francisco or non-San Francisco residents, which
contravenes the intended social benefits and shared investment needed to ensure a
successful Group Housing project.
(h) In 2017, the Board of Supervisors updated the Hotel Conversion Ordinance,
Administrative Code Chapter 41, to clarify that residential hotels are intended for permanent
residents, and that any stay under 32 days would be considered a tourist or transient use and
not a residential use, and conformed the Hotel Conversion Ordinance to other sections of the
Supervisors Peskin; Walton, Mandelman, Ronen, Melgar, Preston
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
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Administrative Code related to short-term rentals. The Hotel Conversion Ordinance updates
also reflect an updated definition of "protected tenants" in Chapter 37 of the Administrative
Code, the San Francisco Residential Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Ordinance. This
legislation conforms the definition of Group Housing with the term of stay for residential hotels,
a type of use included in the definition of Group Housing.
Section 3. The Planning Code is hereby amended by revising Sections 102 and 415.2,
to read as follows:
SEC. 102 DEFINITIONS.
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* *
Group Housing. A Residential Use that provides lodging or both meals and lodging,
without individual or limited cooking facilities or kitchens, by prearrangement for 30 days a ·week
or more at a time and intended as Long-Term Housing, in a space not defined by this Code as a
Dwelling Unit dwelling unit. Except for Group Housing that also qualifies as Student Housing as
defined in this Section I 02,_er- 100% Affordable Housing as defined in Planning Code Section 315. or
housing operated by an organization with tax-exempt status under 26 United States Code
Section 501 (c)(3) providing access to the unit in furtherance of it primary mission to provide
housing. the residential square footage devoted to Group Housing shall include both common and
private space in the following amounts: for every gross square foot o(private space (including
bedrooms and individual bathrooms).~ 0.5 gross square feet of common space shall be provided,
with at least Wl§.% of the common space devoted to communal kitchens with a minimum of one
kitchen for every 2-0_ 15 Group Housing units. &teh group housing Group Housing shall include, but
not necessarily be limited to, a Residential Hotel, boardinghouse, guesthouse, rooming house,
lodging house, residence club, commune, fraternity or sorority house, monastery, nunnery,
Supervisors Peskin; Walton, Mandelman, Ronen, Melgar, Preston
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
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convent, or ashram. It shall also include group housing affiliated with and operated by a
medical or educational institution, when not located on the same lot as such institution, which
shall meet the applicable provisions of Section 304.5 of this Code concerning institutional
master plans.
* * * *
SEC. 415.2. DEFINITIONS.
See Section 401 of this Article.
"Owned Unit" shall mean a dwelling unit that is a condominium, stock cooperative,
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community apartment or detached single family home. The owner or owners of an owned unit
must occupy the unit as their primary residence. An Owned Unit shall not be Group Housing, as
defined in Section 102.
* * * *
Section 4. Effective Date.
This ordinance shall become effective 30 days after enactment. Enactment occurs
when the Mayor signs the ordinance, the Mayor returns the ordinance unsigned or does not
sign the ordinance within ten days of receiving it, or the Board of Supervisors overrides the
Mayor's veto of the ordinance.
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Supervisors Peskin; Walton, Mandelrnan, Ronen, Melgar, Preston
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
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Section 5. Scope of Ordinance. In enacting this ordinance, the Board of Supervisors
intends to amend only those words, phrases, paragraphs, subsections, sections, articles,
numbers, punctuation marks, charts, diagrams, or any other constituent parts of the Municipal
Code that are explicitly shown in this ordinance as additions, deletions, Board amendment
additions, and Board amendment deletions in accordance with the "Note" that appears under
the official title of the ordinance.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
DAVID CHIU, City Attorney
By:
/s/
AU DREY WI LL~IA_M_S_P_E~A~R-s-o~N
Deputy City Attorney
n:\legana\as2021 \2200120\01585507 .docx
Supervisors Peskin; Walton, Mandelman, Ronen, Melgar, Preston
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
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City and County of San Francisco
Tails
Ordinance
City Hall
I Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102-4689
File Number:
211299
Date Passed: March 22, 2022
Ordinance amending the Planning Code to revise the definition of Group Housing; affirming the
Planning Department's determination under the California Environmental Quality Act; and making
findings of consistency with the General Plan, and the eight priority policies of Planning Code,
Section 101.1, and findings of public necessity, convenience, and welfare under Planning Code,
Section 302.
February 28, 2022 Land Use and Transportation Committee - AMENDED, AN
AMENDMENT OF THE WHOLE BEARING SAME TITLE
February 28, 2022 Land Use and Transportation Committee - CONTINUED AS AMENDED
~v1arch 07, 2022 Land Use and Transportation Committee - RECO~v1~v1E~JDED
March 15, 2022 Board of Supervisors - PASSED ON FIRST READING
Ayes: 11 - Chan, Haney, Mandelman, Mar, Melgar, Peskin, Preston, Ronen, Safai,
Stefani and Walton
March 22, 2022 Board of Supervisors - Fl NALLY PASSED
City and County of San Fmncisco
Ayes: 11 - Chan, Haney, Mandelman, Mar, Melgar, Peskin, Preston, Ronen, Safai,
Stefani and Walton
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Printed at 9: I 6 am on 3123122
File No. 211299
London N. Breed
Mayor
City and County of San Francisco
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I hereby certify that the foregoing
Ordinance was FINALLY PASSED on
3/22/2022 by the Board of Supervisors of
the City and County of San Francisco.
Date Approved
Printed at 9: 16 mn on 3/23/22
References
amendsSec. 102
Source: sf_ordinance_pdfURL: https://sfbos.archive.sf.gov/sites/default/files/o0050-22.pdfFetched: 7/4/2026