San Francisco’s Neighborhoods vs. Wiener’s Agenda
Before anything else, thank you.
To everyone who showed up at hearings, wrote letters, called elected officials, shared information with neighbors, and stood shoulder to shoulder throughout this fight, your work has transformed what was once a quiet policy debate into a citywide movement.
Because of you, San Francisco is more united, more informed, and more determined than ever to defend our neighborhoods and our voice in how this city grows.
And that unity could not be more important, because on December 8, 2025, the Board of Supervisors voted 6–4 (with Supervisor Wong absent but publicly stating he would vote yes) to pass Mayor Lurie’s so-called “Family Zoning Plan”, a rezoning written behind closed doors and pushed by Senator Scott Wiener, his YIMBY lobbyists, and developer allies.
With that vote, San Francisco crossed a line.
Who Stood With San Franciscans
Supervisors Connie Chan (D1), Jackie Fielder (D9), Shamann Walton (D10), and Chyanne Chen (D11)
All showed courage and independence. The Marina Safeway project vindicates their warnings.
Who Chose Lobbyist's Agenda Over San Francisco
Stephen Sherrill (D2), Danny Sauter (D3), Alan Wong (D4), Bilal Mahmood (D5), Matt Dorsey (D6), Myrna Melgar (D7), and Rafael Mandelman (D8)
Every supervisor who voted for this upzoning is supported by Senator Scott Wiener. That is not accidental. And neither are the consequences.
NOTE: We should all be concerned about the increased influence of well-funded political groups in our local elections. GrowSF, a billionaire-funded organization, has already begun running attack ads against supervisors who opposed the upzoning plan in an effort to shape future elections. Voters should pay close attention to which candidates and policies this group is funding and promoting. Their agenda is clear, deregulation that benefits developers, not neighborhoods or affordability.
Lobbyists Ruled the Day
Mayor Lurie's upzoning didn’t just “comply” with state law, it went further. It increased base heights, expanded density, and rezoned single-family neighborhoods into multifamily and commercial districts, creating sweeping new entitlements that go well beyond what the state required.
It won't make housing more affordable, it makes land more expensive.
This is where our elected leaders should have stood up, but they did not.
The Marina Safeway: Proof, Not a Prediction
Supervisor Sherrill now claims the 25-story Marina Safeway tower would not have happened under the Family Zoning Plan.
That is simply false.
This project is enabled by state density bonus laws authored and championed by Senator Wiener. The Mayor’s plan could not stop it. In some cases, the Family Zoning Plan actually makes these state density projects more onerous.
The Marina Safeway isn’t a hypothetical warning.
It’s a harbinger of what the YIMBY deregulation agenda delivers. If it can happen in the Marina, it can happen anywhere.
See related article
A Stunning Misallocation of Priorities
At a time when San Francisco desperately needs downtown recovery, City Hall chose instead to sign a demolition plan for thriving neighborhoods.
Rather than:
• Helping deliver the 70,000+ approved housing units already in the pipeline
• Clearing barriers so developers could get shovels in the ground
• Revitalizing underused commercial cores
They did something else entirely.
They used magic math to:
• Rezone more than half the city
• Create paper capacity for 800,000 additional units
• Nearly double San Francisco’s housing footprint
• And then assure residents, “Nothing will actually be built.”
That contradiction alone tells you everything.
The Presidio: This Agenda Has No Stopping Point
If Senator Wiener is willing to strip San Francisco of local control today, what happens tomorrow?
Nancy Pelosi fought to protect the Presidio as a national park, shielded from private development. Under Wiener’s worldview, nothing is untouchable.
If state law can erase neighborhood planning, federal law can erase protected land.
What San Franciscans Must Do Right Now
San Francisco is awake, and this movement is growing locally and statewide.
1. Fight in the Courts
A rezoning this massive cannot bypass CEQA or due process. A Supplemental EIR is required: Read pending legal challenge (corrected link).
2. Vote at the Ballot Box
If City Hall will not defend neighborhoods, voters will. Local ballot measure coming next.
3. Push Back on Next RHNA Cycle
Insist our elected officials defend our city and prevent the next cycle of unrealistic RHNA mandates that lead to another round of upzoning. See NUSF letter to governing body.
4. Elect Leaders Who Will Resist, Not Surrender
Support real leaders, not YIMBY loyalists, who are stepping up across the city for 2026.
A Final Word
This upzoning was unnecessary, unchecked, and counterproductive. It is the direct result of laws written by Senator Scott Wiener and enforced by officials who chose alignment over accountability.
But thanks to your work, the city is no longer asleep. This is the moment. This is the line.
And this is the fight that will determine what San Francisco is allowed to be, and who it is allowed to be for.
Stand up. Push back. Defend our neighborhoods. Because if we don’t fight for our city, no one else will.
Over 3,000 residents sent emails urging the City to revise the upzoning plan to make it reasonable and less impactful to our existing neighborhoods. Their voices were ignored. The next round of housing mandates is being planned now, but this time, we're aware and engaged.
| 
