San Francisco newly-appointed D4 Supervisor Alan Wong votes for Family Zoning Plan in his first full board meeting

SAN FRANCISCO — Newly-appointed District 4 (D4) Supervisor Alan Wong joined six Supervisors to vote for the Family Zoning Plan in his first Board of Supervisors meeting. The plan was proposed by Mayor Daniel Luire to modify the current city's zoning rules in compliance with California State's requirements and reach a goal of expanding housing affordability and availability for more families by allowing increased density.

"We have several deadlines coming up that really put us at risk," Wong said in the meeting. "If we move this through right now for at least for my district, I want to be able at a later time to make adjustments as necessary. As brought up by my constituents in District 4, I'll be supporting this plan."

Lurie's Family Zoning Plan aims to follow state requirements to adopt a compliant rezoning plan by January 31, 2026 with a goal to add 82,000 new homes in San Francisco, especially along transit and commercial corridors.

The proposed changes to current city's rules on zoning would apply to about half of San Francisco area which is primarily on the west and north sides including District 1(Richmond), District 2 (Marina), District 3 (Chinatown and North Beach), District 4 (Sunset), District 5 (Ashbury Heights and Glen Park), District 7 (Oceanview), District 8 (Castro) and District 11(Excelsior). The other three supervisorial districts, 6, 9 and 10, would not be affected at all.

Under the Family Zoning Plan, building heights remain unchanged at 40 feet, or 4 stories, in most areas. Property owners have choices to keep their homes as a single, two-, or three-family residence; or transform their homes into a small apartment or condo building up to four stories tall.

The Family Zoning Plan allows commercial transition in select neighborhood shopping districts where homes can be rebuilt to reach up to 50 feet tall, or 5 stories, with the Housing Choice San Francisco program.

More homes for families in 6- and 8-story buildings are allowed on most corridors, and on corners and large lots.

High rise buildings, from 12 to 65 stories, are allowed in select areas where the thoroughfares with frequent transit services are available including the Van Ness Corridor, Market Street (from Van Ness Avenue to Castro Street), and Geary Boulevard.

The Family Zoning Plan creates capacity for over 36,000 homes to be built on San Francisco’s north and west sides that would make rooms for households of all types and income levels, the San Francisco Planning Department noted.

The plan would protect historic resources by prohibiting the demolition of local, state, or federal landmarks. Any alterations of or additions to landmarks are required to adhere to Preservation Objective Standards. In addition, the City is actively landmarking historic resources in the rezoned areas, according to the City's Planning Department.

D4, which covers Sunset and Parkside neighborhoods with the most concentrated Chinese American residents in the city, fully falls into the Family Zoning Plan.

Since former Supervisor Joel Engardio was removed from office on October 17 by 63% of D4 voters in the September 16 Recall Election, D4 Supervisor seat was mostly vacant until December 1, except a brief week held by former Supervisor Beya Alcaraz who was appointed by Mayor Lurie on November 6 and resigned on November 14 amidst controversies surrounding her former pet store business.

Alan Wong, 38, was appointed by Lurie on December 1 to fill the D4 vacancy for over a month left by Engardio and Alcaraz respectively. Wong is well connected with the Chinese community citywide as well as in the Sunset District where he was born and raised.

Wong's connections with his constituents and communities citywide has been established day by day since he served as the legislative aide for former D4 Supervisor Gordon Mar from 2018 to 2022 and has been elected to the San Francisco City College Board of Trustees since 2021.

Prior to the Supervisor appointment, Wong served as the Senior Director of Public Policy Communication at the Children's Council of San Francisco.

He attended public schools including Abraham Lincoln High School where Mayor Lurie held a public announcement event for Wong's appointment.

Wong is the son of his immigrant parents from Hong Kong. He graduated from City College of San Francisco, UC-San Diego and earned a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of San Francisco.

One the next day after his appointment, December 2, Wong attended for the first time the Board of Supervisors meeting to vote on a number of legislation including the Family Zoning Plan which has received widespread attention among communities in the city.

Supporters and advocates for teachers, firefighters, and police officers see the plan as vital for them to stay in San Francisco with more affordable housing options. Opponents worry that the Family Zoning Plan would change neighborhood characters and create potential displacements.

The Board of Supervisors voted 7-4 to approve the Family Zoning Plan. Other 6 votes were from Board President and District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, District 2 Stephen Sherrill, District 3 Danny Sauter, District 5 Bilal Mahmood, District 6 Matt Dorsey, and District 7 Myrna Melgar.

District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan introduced a last-minute amendment to the Family Zoning Plan in the meeting in order to protect all rent-control housing units including 20,000 units which have been excluded in the plan. The amendment was rejected by a 7-4 vote.

Three Supervisors who voted in favor of Chan's amendment were District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder, District 10 Shamann Walton and District 11 Chyanne Chen. All four Supervisors also voted against the Family Zoning Plan.

Chan said although the plan with earlier amendments has protected 18,000 rent-controlled units from demolition, approximately 20,000 rent-controlled units are still left behind and put those households at risk of displacement and demolition. 30% of those units are located in the Richmond District.

When Wong voted for the Family Zoning Plan, he shared his personal story of growing up in the Sunset District.

"I have lived all my life in the in-law apartments in Sunset," said Wong. "My family moved around different in-law apartments and I've always wanted to have the opportunity to have access to my own sunset district for home, but that has been very much impossible."

"There are very few units that are condos or affordable in District 4. Elsewhere there are plenty and other neighborhoods in the more dense parts of the city. But I always want to stay on the west side and in the Sunset," said Wong.

"And homes cost nearly $2 million. We need more housing options for our community, so the next generation of Sunset families and young people like myself that have grown up in intergenerational households and in-laws are able to have opportunities for homes."

"And I want to be able to move this forward, so we are not breaking any deadlines and putting us at risk of the state coming in and losing our local control," Wong added.

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Portia Li is a reporter, editor and publisher of Wind Newspaper which was launched on September 1, 2020 during the COVID pandemic as an English and Chinese bilingual weekly news publication to serve all communities in the San Francisco Bay Area focusing on Chinese and Asian American issues. Prior to co-founding the Wind Newspaper, Portia was a senior and investigative reporter stationed at the San Francisco Bureau of the Chinese-language daily World Journal from the late 1980s. She was born in Hong Kong, educated in Taiwan and the United States. She is also a proud recipient of the 2021 SPJ Northern California Chapter Career Achievement Award in print. She can be reached at portia@WindNewspaper.com.