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This ordinance may be cited as the "Surplus Public Lands Ordinance."
(Added by Ord. 227-02, File No. 011498, App. 11/26/2002; amended by Prop. K, App. 11/3/2016)
The Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco hereby finds:
(a) Homelessness in San Francisco is a crisis. The Mayor's Offices of Community Development and Housing estimate that there are 3,125 homeless families and 9,375 homeless individuals in San Francisco.
(b) The main causes of homelessness are high cost of living, lack of affordable housing units, welfare reform, de-institutionalization of the mentally ill, substance abuse and San Francisco's unique place as a destination point. These causes are identified by the Mayor's Offices of Community Development and Housing in the 2000 Consolidated Plan.
(c) For homeless individuals and families, there is an unmet need of 3,187 housing slots for individuals and 2,025 slots for families.
(d) Surplus City property could be utilized to provide housing to homeless men, women and children.
(e) Surplus City property that is unsuitable for housing could be sold to generate income for permanent housing for people who are homeless.
(f) San Francisco's housing stock is unaffordable for many residents. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment increased by 110% from 1980 to 1990, while the overall cost of living increased by 64%. At $1,940, the average two-bedroom unit is out of reach to households earning less than $77,600 per year, based on the Department of Housing and Urban Development's standards.
(g) San Francisco is experiencing a severe shortage of housing resulting in a negligible vacancy rate for habitable housing for persons earning less than half of the area median income.
(h) Many renters are unable to locate rental housing of any kind. These persons are increasingly seeking shelter in already overcrowded emergency shelters and, when such shelters are full, finding themselves on the City's streets.
(i) Existing rental housing constitutes much of the remaining affordable housing in the City. The number of such units is diminishing as a result of increased pressures for more development both downtown and in many neighborhoods.
(j) Frequently, real estate speculation results in the premature closure of existing habitable buildings and the withdrawal of existing rental units from the market long before such closure would be needed for any physical redevelopment of such sites.
(k) The Board of Supervisors and the Mayor have concurred with the findings of the City's Health Commission that there exists a health and housing emergency, as enumerated in Board Resolution 537-01, adopted by the Board of Supervisors on June 25, 2001 and approved by the Mayor on July 6, 2001.
(l) Under the City's Charter, a number of City Commissions and Departments, including the Port, the Airport, the Public Utilities Commission, the Municipal Transportation Agency, the Recreation and Parks Commission and the Fine Arts Museums Board of Trustees have jurisdiction and control of their respective Property, and, thus, the provisions of this Chapter regarding declaring Property surplus or conveying Property shall operate only as recommendations of policy to such departments and Commissions.
(m) State law includes a number of statutes that potentially govern the disposition of surplus City Property, including Government Code Section 54220 et seq. (the "State Surplus Property Statute"). Under the State Surplus Property Statute, State agencies and subdivisions of the State, including cities or counties, disposing of surplus real property must first send a written offer to sell surplus property to and negotiate in good faith the conveyance of such surplus property with certain local agencies designated by the State for affordable housing, recreation, open space and school purposes. Any conveyances of Surplus Property under this Chapter would be subject to and would first need to comply with applicable State law, including the State Surplus Property Statute, and the application of the State Surplus Property Statute may preclude or impair disposing of Surplus Property for the purposes and in the manner set forth in this Chapter.
(n) San Francisco is suffering from an urgent crisis of housing affordability and displacement that requires immediate action.
(o) The passage by the voters of Proposition K in November 2014 demonstrated a clear policy imperative to increase production of housing, especially housing affordable to households of low, moderate and middle incomes.
(p) Publicly owned land that is suitable for housing development represents a unique opportunity for San Francisco to meet the affordable housing policy goals set forth in Proposition K.
(q) Affordable housing is of vital importance to the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of San Francisco and provision of a decent home and a suitable living environment for every San Franciscan is a priority of the highest order.
(r) There is a shortage of sites available for housing for persons and families of low, moderate and middle incomes, and surplus publicly owned land, prior to disposition, should be strategically deployed to address that shortage.
(s) This Chapter 23A will have no impact on park lands, which are protected from development under the City Charter.
(t) The State of California adopted Assembly Bill 2135 in November 2014, requiring local agencies and school districts to give priority in disposing of the surplus land to affordable housing.
(u) California Government Code Sections 54220-54232, the "State Surplus Property Statute," applies to any local agency, including any city and county, and district, including school districts of any kind or class, and sets out rules for "surplus land" that is determined to be no longer necessary for the agency's use.
(v) The Board of Supervisors approved this Chapter 23A in November 2002 to identify and use surplus City-owned property for the purpose of providing housing, shelter, and other services for people who are homeless, which resulted in the development of two 100% affordable housing developments.
(w) The sale or lease of surplus land at less than fair market value to facilitate the creation of affordable housing is consistent with goals and objectives of San Francisco's Housing Element and Proposition K.
(Added by Ord. 227-02, File No. 011498, App. 11/26/2002; amended by Prop. K, App. 11/3/2016)
The purposes of this ordinance are to:
(a) Prioritize surplus and underutilized public land in San Francisco that is suitable for the construction of housing in order to maximize the creation of deed-restricted affordable housing citywide, including ground floor retail and community facilities and open space;
(b) Establish policy that the portfolio of housing built on public lands in San Francisco should maximize the amount of permanently affordable housing at extremely low, very low, low, moderate and middle income affordability levels, taking into account available subsidy sources for such affordable housing;
(c) Establish policy to encourage state and special-district agencies (other than the City and County of San Francisco) that own surplus and underutilized public lands in San Francisco to prioritize permanently affordable housing for disposition and development of their sites;
(d) Establish policy that any City department process for planning the disposition and development of any public lands should assume the standards of this ordinance;
(e) Establish policy that the first priority use of surplus City-owned property shall be for the purpose of providing housing, shelter, and other services for people who are homeless;
(f) Help relieve the crisis of homelessness in the City and County of San Francisco;
(g) Potentially provide low or no cost facilities for agencies serving homeless people;
(h) Potentially provide "sweat-equity" opportunities for homeless people to create permanent housing opportunities through rehabilitation and repair of the units; and
(i) Create a centralized mechanism to responsibly dispose of surplus City property in a manner that will help ensure that the property or its proceeds will be used for purposes consistent with this Chapter 23A.
(Added by Ord. 227-02, File No. 011498, App. 11/26/2002; amended by Prop. K, App. 11/3/2016)
For purposes of this Chapter 23A:
"Administrator" shall mean the City Administrator as set forth in Section 3.104 of the City's Charter.
"Affordable Housing" shall mean housing that is restricted as affordable to households earning up to 120% of the Area Median Income, and may also include housing for Homeless or formerly Homeless persons.
"Area Median Income" shall have the meaning set forth in Charter Section 16.110.
"Education Districts" shall mean the San Francisco Unified School District and the San Francisco Community College District.
"Enterprise Departments" shall mean the following City departments: the Port, the Airport, the Public Utilities Commission, the Municipal Transportation Agency, the Recreation and Parks Commission and the Fine Arts Museums Board of Trustees.
"Executive Director" shall mean the Executive Director of the MOHCD.
"Homeless" shall mean:
1. an individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence; or
2. an individual or family who has a primary nighttime residence that is:
A. a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations; or
B. an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals who have been institutionalized; or
C. a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings; or
3. families with minor children living in single resident occupancy rooms and other overcrowded housing conditions.
"Housing Trust Fund" shall mean the Housing Trust Fund established by the City under Charter Section 16.110.
"Middle Income Housing" shall mean housing that is affordable to households earning up to 150% of Area Median Income.
"MOHCD" shall mean the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development, and any successor City department.
"Property" shall mean any real property located within and owned by the City and County of San Francisco of one-quarter acre or more, excluding land and buildings reserved or intended to be reserved for open space or parks purposes, any land dedicated for public right-of-way purposes, any land used or reserved for transit lines, or public utility rights-of-way, or any publicly dedicated streets or rights-of-way. "Property" shall not include any real property owned by or on behalf of the Education Districts.
"State Surplus Property Statute" shall mean California Government Code Sections 54220 through 54233, as may be amended or supplanted.
"Surplus Property" shall mean any Property that is not required to fulfill the mission of the City department, commission or agency with jurisdiction or control of such Property and that is not required to fulfill the mission of another governmental agency pursuant to an inter-governmental transfer, and shall not include any land to be exchanged for other land to be used by a City department in accordance with an existing letter of intent or agreement;
"Underutilized Property" shall mean an entire Property or portion thereof (including air rights), with or without improvements, that is used by the City only at irregular periods of time or intermittently, or that is used by the City for current purposes that can be satisfied with only a portion of such Property, or that is not currently occupied or used by the City and for which there are no plans by the City to occupy or use such Property, and that has a potential for development as Affordable Housing while maintaining the existing and anticipated City uses of the Property.
By November 1 of each year, each City commission, department or agency shall compile and deliver to the Administrator a list of all Property that it occupies or is otherwise under its control. The list shall include at least the following:
(a) The street address of the Property (if there is one), and the Assessor's block and lot number;
(b) A general description of the Property, including the land size, dimensions and topography;
(c) The current use of the Property; and
(d) A general description of any structure(s) on the Property as well as an assessment of their physical condition.
Each City commission, department or agency shall maintain or shall work with the Administrator to maintain adequate inventory and accountability systems for the Property under its control to determine which Properties are Surplus or Underutilized for purposes of this Chapter 23A, and shall reasonably cooperate with requests for information from the Administrator. The Board shall appropriate funds to the Administrator to perform the functions set forth in this Chapter 23A.
(Added by Ord. 227-02, File No. 011498, App. 11/26/200; amended by Prop. K, App. 11/3/2016)
(a) The Administrator shall review the list of Property submitted by City departments pursuant to Section 23A.5 to identify any Property that may be Surplus Property or Underutilized Property, and shall strike from this initial list any Property that does not meet the definition of Surplus Property or Underutilized Property under Section 23A.4, is under the jurisdiction of the Recreation and Park Department, the Airport or the Port, is part of the public right-of-way, or is subject to deed restrictions or other legal restrictions that would prevent the City from disposing of such Property pursuant to this Chapter 23A. The Administrator shall also provide to the Board of Supervisors a copy of the initial list upon request. No property shall be deemed Underutilized on the basis of available air rights if the applicable department head determines that development of such air rights would conflict with existing or planned future uses consistent with the department’s mission on that property. The Administrator shall also contact the Education Districts to ask if they have any surplus properties suitable for the development of Affordable Housing. The Administrator shall further consult with other City departments, the Mayor, and members of the Board of Supervisors to identify any Property listed on the initial list for which a City department other than the department with current jurisdiction has a specific operational need and shall remove such Properties from the Surplus Property Report. The Administrator shall thereafter initiate the transfer of jurisdiction over those identified Properties to the departments that can utilize them. The Administrator shall state in writing the reasons for the removal of each Property from the initial list and shall provide such report to MOHCD and the Board of Supervisors.
(b) By February 1 of each year, the Administrator shall compile a comprehensive report for the remaining Property listed that includes, at a minimum, the following information: the street address, if any, and the block and lot number for each Property; the City department with jurisdiction over each Property; a description of the zoning applicable to each Property; whether the property is vacant or intended to be vacant, contains any existing structures, and any additional information relevant to the potential development of the Property for Affordable Housing, including any legal restrictions or limitations on development of the Property such as the terms and conditions of any gift, trust, deed restriction, bond covenant or other covenants or restrictions (the "Surplus Property Report"). The Surplus Property Report shall also include a list of any and all City-owned properties that are adjacent to each listed Property and appear to be vacant or underutilized, along with the identification of the City department with jurisdiction over such adjacent property. The Surplus Property Report may include any property of the Education Districts for information purposes only. No later than March 1 of each year, the Administrator shall transmit the completed Surplus Property Report to MOHCD and to the Board of Supervisors. If the Administrator determines that there is no Surplus Property or Underutilized Property suitable for the development of Affordable Housing, the Administrator shall notify the Board of Supervisors of this determination. The Administrator shall maintain and release written records of all information compiled under this Chapter 23A in conformance with all state and local laws governing the retention and disclosure of public records.
(c) No later than April 15 of each year, the Board of Supervisors or a committee thereof shall hold a public hearing on the Surplus Property Report and determine if any Property should be transferred to MOHCD under Section 23A.7, provided the Board President may elect not to hold a hearing during any year in which the Administrator has determined that there is no Surplus Property or Underutilized Property suitable for the development of Affordable Housing. With respect to the Enterprise Departments and the Education Districts, the Board of Supervisors may make a recommendation of surplus and transfer, but the Enterprise Departments and the Education Districts shall each have the right to determine whether real property under its jurisdiction is surplus or underutilized and whether to dispose of property in any particular manner subject to the requirements of the City's Charter and California law.
(d) For a period of 120 days following the public hearing held under subsection (c) above, the City shall not initiate a request for bids or proposals or enter into contracts designed to facilitate the sale of Property (including brokerage and appraisal contracts) that the Board intends to transfer to MOHCD for any purpose other than the development of Affordable Housing, without the prior approval of the Board of Supervisors.
(a) Following the Board of Supervisors hearing under Section 23A.6(c) and no later than June 1 of each year, MOHCD shall evaluate the feasibility of each property for Affordable Housing based on typical development standards of site planning and constructability, and prepare a report to the Administrator identifying the properties suitable for Affordable Housing and those that are not suitable for Affordable Housing and explaining MOHCD's analysis and conclusions. The feasibility report shall be made available to all interested parties that have notified the Administrator to be placed on a notification list for this purpose.
(b) Following receipt of the MOHCD feasibility report, the Administrator shall prepare and submit to the Mayor and Board of Supervisors legislation either transferring jurisdiction over Surplus Properties to MOHCD or to another City department for such department's use, or seeking to sell such properties, as determined by the Administrator. The Administrator shall also provide to the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors a copy of the MOHCD feasibility report, and shall make recommendations to the Board regarding any proposed development of Underutilized Property for Affordable Housing.
(c) For those Surplus Properties transferred to MOHCD, the Executive Director shall publicize the availability of the Surplus Properties and seek applications for development of the Surplus Properties on a competitive basis in keeping with MOHCD's standard practices. The Executive Director also shall take all steps necessary to comply with the State Surplus Property Statute. For Underutilized Properties, the City department with jurisdiction over the property (excluding the Enterprise Departments) shall take action consistent with direction of the Board of Supervisors. With respect to real property under the jurisdiction of Enterprise Departments or the Education Districts, the Board of Supervisors may urge the Enterprise Departments or the Education Districts to consider approving a sale of such property for Affordable Housing or a transfer of such property to MOHCD for Affordable Housing. If an Enterprise Department or an Education District elects to transfer real property to MOHCD, the Administrator shall then prepare and submit to the Mayor and Board of Supervisors the appropriate legislation to accept the property for the development of Affordable Housing.
(Added by Ord. 227-02, File No. 011498, App. 11/26/2002; amended by Ord. 93-04, File No. 040537, App. 5/27/2004; Prop. K App. 11/3/2016)
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