San Francisco’s sprawling city government is about to get a little more sprawling. This week’s agenda includes a new office to coordinate the city’s food programs, another step toward taking over PG&E’s local power grid, millions of dollars in new spending, a hearing on the city’s street-tree strategy and fresh revisions to some of its biggest development projects — along with a health update prompted by a tuberculosis outbreak at a local high school.
On Monday, the Supervisors’ Rules Committee takes up a bill to create a new Office of Food Security Coordination inside the Human Services Agency (SFHSA). The office would oversee food programs across city departments, keep track of food resources citywide, put out a Food Security Report every five years, and plan for emergency food needs.
Mayor Daniel Lurie introduced the measure in July, saying the city’s approach to food insecurity is too scattered — nine different city agencies were running food programs as of 2023, even though over 70 percent of the funding already flows through SFHSA. The push comes as federal cuts keep threatening SNAP and similar programs, and Lurie’s office says the new office would cut down on duplication, get government, nonprofits and philanthropy working together better, and move the city away from just leaning on emergency relief toward longer-term fixes. It also follows years of recommendations from the city’s Food Security Task Force, which had been pushing for a centralized food office and a permanent advisory body.
Later today, the Land Use Committee considers changes to the special use district and development agreement for the Potrero Power Station project, the massive redevelopment of a former PG&E power plant site in Dogpatch into a new mixed-use neighborhood.
Last summer developer Fifth Space asked the city for changes reflecting post-pandemic market conditions, along with more flexibility in how the site gets built — so if market demand favors housing over commercial space, it could ultimately deliver more homes than currently planned. This includes lifting the limits on rooftop amenities (currently limited to a single bar and restaurant) and permission to offer up to 200 “Intermediate Length Occupancy” units (furnished, medium-term housing for stays of 30+ days) without those counting against the city’s existing cap on that housing type. Despite the flexibility being requested, developers say the project isn’t backing away from its core housing commitment to the city.
Also on Monday: the Health Commission will hear an update on and discuss the Department of Public Health’s Tuberculosis Program. The Bay Area and California generally is a “hotspot” for the disease, and attention has increased locally due to an outbreak of the disease at Archbishop Riordan High School, which began last November and had expanded to seven active cases and 241 latent cases by the following May. Currently the outbreak appears to be largely contained, but the school is still monitoring students and staff who were infected or exposed.
Tuesday’s full Board of Supervisors meeting features another milestone in the city’s long-running fight to take over Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) local grid and create a publicly owned power system. They will hear an appeal of the Planning Commission’s certification of the environmental impact report for the move. The city maintains that acquiring the assets could advance public control, reliability, and clean-energy goals, while the utility disputes the city’s valuation and argues that a takeover would ultimately increase electricity rates.
Other significant items Tuesday include $43 million in borrowing for the Open Space Fund, commercial-to-residential adaptive-reuse zoning changes, and the Transbay Under Ramp Park land/street changes.
Wednesday’s Budget and Finance Committee features some consequential but routine votes to fund housing and public safety items, including a likely vote to appropriate over $200 million in already approved housing bond financing as well as to accept and spend $4 million in funds from Sacramento for the city’s Victim Witness Assistance Program and $3 million from the San Francisco Police Community Foundation to support SFPD’s Real-Time Investigation Center.
On Thursday, the Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee is holding a hearing, called by District 6 member Matt Dorsey, on the state of street trees in his district. The hearing grew out of a letter of inquiry to the Department of Public Works (DPW) about whether they’re distributing tree resources equitably within the district. DPW Director Carla Short responded on March 27 with a report largely acknowledging real staffing and tracking gaps while defending the equity rationale behind where grant money has actually gone. The committee is asking DPW to explain its response and report on the allocation of resources.
District 6’s sparse tree canopy issue may also intersect with recent legislation passed by the board which allows developers in certain circumstances to satisfy street-tree planting requirements by paying an in-lieu fee or providing alternative landscaping, exempts ADUs from planting requirements, and changes the process for appealing certain tree removals.
Finally, also on Thursday the Planning Commission mulls another set of changes to yet another major mixed use project; this time it’s Boston Properties’ site on Harrison Street between Third and Fourth Streets. A key site in the Central SoMa plan, it’s evolved considerably since its initial approval, now including a 14-story, building with mostly office space, but also a sizable amount of PDR (Production, Distribution and Repair), open space, and a sizable dedication of the plot for affordable housing development by the city. Boston Properties is asking for new conditional use authorizations and variances covering demolition of some unauthorized dwelling units, changes to frontage, a basement and mechanical penthouse, and dedicated space for use by the GLIDE Foundation.
