Rules Committee advances ordinance to create permit‑prioritization task force to speed affordable housing reviews

The Rules Committee on Monday recommended that the full Board of Supervisors consider an ordinance establishing a permit‑prioritization task force intended to coordinate and recommend a citywide list of priority permits and project types across multiple permit departments.

"We should have a common list of priority permit processing across all departments," Supervisor Asha Safaee said while presenting the ordinance. Safaee said the measure grew out of problems in her district and the Home SF program’s goal of incentivizing denser, affordable housing. "DPW has not updated that priority processing list since 2014," she said.

Clerk Victor Young read the ordinance’s scope into the record: the task force would recommend prioritization guidelines to the Department of Building Inspection, the Planning Department, and the Department of Public Works; departments would be required to review and periodically update their guidelines; and the commissions that oversee those departments would approve the departmental prioritization guidelines.

Safaee and colleagues emphasized the task force would be advisory. "The citywide list is recommendation and not binding on the departments, given that this is an advisory body created by ordinance," she said, adding that departments would retain flexibility to set department‑specific priorities.

The committee approved amendments that clarified the task force’s advisory role and set an expiration for the task force, then voted to forward the ordinance to the full Board with a positive recommendation. Vice Chair Shimon Walton, Supervisor Asha Safaee, and Chair Matt Dorsey recorded "aye" votes; the motion passed without objection.

Supporters told the committee they expect the measure to reduce unevenness across departments in how priority applications are handled, especially for projects that increase housing supply or provide deeper affordability. Critics at the hearing questioned whether adding another task force would speed outcomes, but the committee concluded the advisory structure and periodic review requirement would drive greater alignment across departments.