Committee Approves $1.4B Potrero Bus Yard After Losing 365 Affordable Housing Units

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Budget and Finance Committee advanced all eight items on its March 18 agenda, but two dominated the evening: a billion-dollar bus yard rebuild that jettisoned a community promise of hundreds of affordable homes, and a mobile food vendor ordinance that was voted on, rescinded, and retaken after over a dozen Spanish-speaking vendors arrived to testify.

• $1.4 billion Potrero Yard modernization advances 3-0, but 365 planned affordable housing units are eliminated after a reinforced podium is cut to save $70M+; Chair Connie Chan demands a written commitment from SFMTA and the mayor before Tuesday's full board vote

• Mobile food vendor ordinance sent to full board after committee rescinds initial vote to hear from Mission District vendors pleading for affordable cart financing, additional vending spaces, and Micro Enterprise Home Kitchen protections

• SFPD shifts $34.3M in salary savings to overtime, signaling persistent staffing shortfalls even as academy applications hit record highs

• $15.2M money management program extended for 2,000 supportive housing residents at a cost of $1,373 per tenant per year

• HSA locks in $3M+ in lease savings by renegotiating rent at its Mission one-stop service hub

The committee's longest and most charged debate centered on the project agreement for a new four-level bus storage and maintenance facility at 2500 Mariposa Street — and the 365 affordable housing units that won't be built above it.