Breed vetoes Peskin’s legislation as ‘anti-housing’
Mayor London Breed has vetoed legislation sponsored by Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin that seeks to impose housing development restrictions in his northeast San Francisco district.
The veto comes as Peskin is widely expected to enter the race for mayor, challenging Breed in November. Breed slammed Peskin over housing policy at a rally last week, accusing him of trying “to destroy housing production.” If Peskin enters the race, he and Breed will likely both attack each other over development issues.
Breed said in a Thursday message to Peskin and the rest of the board that the ordinance in question “passes off antihousing policy in the guise of historic protections.” The ordinance, which supervisors passed last month in an 8-3 vote, imposed density limits in three areas that Peskin represents: the Northeast Waterfront Historic District, the Jackson Square Historic District and the Jackson Square Historic District Extension. A supermajority of eight supervisors can override Breed’s veto, so if the original vote count holds, the board will be able to reverse her legislative rejection. But Breed has been trying to take a strong stance on supporting housing development as she tries to help the city meet its state-mandated goal of approving 82,000 homes by 2031 — and looks toward a difficult reelection campaign this fall. Breed has only vetoed a handful of pieces of legislation as mayor.
Whether the Board of Supervisors is able to override Breed’s veto could depend on Supervisor Catherine Stefani, who was a reluctant yes vote on Peskin’s bill in February. If Stefani changes her vote and the other supervisors who voted against it — Myrna Melgar, Matt Dorsey and Joel Engardio — cast the same vote, Peskin would not have the votes to override the veto. “It’s one of those votes where yes or no doesn’t make me comfortable either way,” Stefani said during the Feb. 27 board meeting.
The City Charter says the board has 30 days to override the mayor’s veto, but the last meeting before the board’s spring recess is April 2. Supervisor Hillary Ronen is currently recovering from a knee surgery and has been out for more than a week. Keeping her yes vote will be key to the override math. Her office said she hopes to be back to work by the March 25. Breed vowed in her State of the City address last week to veto “any piece of antihousing legislation that comes across my desk” — comments that appeared at the time to be a swipe at Peskin. A longtime proponent of historic preservation, Peskin has privately told associates he will run for mayor against Breed, the Chronicle previously reported, though he has not yet announced any official plans to do so.
“Existing rules already protect against impacts to historic resources,” Breed said in her veto message. “I believe we can add new homes while also supporting and improving the vibrancy of our unique neighborhoods. Many areas of San Francisco, including eastern neighborhoods like the South of Market, Potrero Hill, and the Mission, have also already removed density limits to encourage new housing.” In a statement, Peskin pushed back emphatically on Breed’s comments in her veto message, saying “we can be both proneighborhood and pro-housing — period.” He noted that he had just advocated for a successful $300 million housing bond, Proposition A, that voters approved in the election this month.“I will continue to champion affordable housing for our families that improves our neighborhoods — not a wall on the waterfront made up of luxury second and third homes,” Peskin said. “Instead of outsourcing housing decisions to developers so they can maximize profit, as the Mayor is doing, we need to build housing our working families can afford while improving the neighborhoods they live in.”He put forward the legislation as developers looked to build three housing towers at the foot of Telegraph Hill — a 267-foot structure at 955 Sansome St., a 206-foot building at 1088 Sansome St. and a 140-foot development at 875 Sansome St. Housing development advocates had urged Breed to veto the bill and they cheered her in a statement that also urged supervisors to uphold the veto.“Every neighborhood needs to do their fair share of housing production,” Corey Smith, executive director of the Housing Action Coalition, said in the statement. “The Mayor’s leadership underscores that we cannot go backwards if we are going to meet our Housing Element commitments and meaningfully address the affordability and displacement crisis.”