SF Advances SB79 Housing Plan, Locks In Industrial Zone Protections

The Land Use and Transportation Committee's most consequential vote Monday wasn't the one that passed unanimously — it was the one that failed. Supervisor Matt Dorsey's bid to sunset permanent industrial zone exemptions from the state's transit-oriented housing mandate was defeated 1-2, setting San Francisco's compliance strategy on a path that shields SOMA, Mission, and Bayview production-distribution-repair zones from residential development for the foreseeable future. The committee also advanced 13 landmark designations, endorsed a state bill requiring speed-limiting devices for reckless drivers, and green-lit a new EV curbside charging permit program.

• City's SB79 alternative plan advances with permanent industrial exemptions intact after a failed 1-2 amendment vote split the committee and drew 10 public speakers on both sides

• Thirteen District 3 buildings — including the Transamerica Pyramid and Vesuvio Cafe — move toward landmark status under the Family Zoning Plan's first large-scale preservation push

• Committee unanimously backs AB 2276, which would require speed-limiting devices for drivers convicted of reckless driving, citing eight pedestrian fatalities in San Francisco so far in 2026

• EV curbside charging ordinance clears committee, consolidating permitting under SFMTA

The longest and most heated debate of the meeting centered on how San Francisco will comply with SB79, the state law requiring cities to allow residential development near transit stops. The city's alternative plan permanently exempts industrial employment hubs — zones classified as M, SALI, PDR, WMUO, and P — from the law's default housing requirements. That exemption became the flashpoint.