Don't Upzone the Coastal Zone Redux
Supervisors Land Use & Transportation Committee 10/20 hearing record is still open.
If you were not able to attend the BOS Land Use (LUTC) Committee meeting on Monday (or the rally on the steps of City Hall immediately before the hearing) you still have an opportunity to stand up and voice your concerns about this Upzoning Plan.
Public comments went on for nearly seven hours on Monday. But I know some people were not about to make it. Four Supervisors — Connie Chan (District 1), Chyanne Chen (District 11), Shamann Walton (District 10) and Jackie Fielder (District 9) — all participated in the rally against the Upzoning Plan before the hearing. That is a solid group of opposition. I urge everyone with concerns about this ill-conceived plan to send make your public comments as soon as you can. Momentum is building, your voice makes a difference.
We can, we must do better than this. I have included my public comment below. I sent very similar comments to both the BOS-LUTC as well as the Democratic County Central Committee, which will meet tomorrow and debate two opposing resolutions on this issue. The Board of Supervisors needs to hear your comment the most, but the DCCC could stand to hear some comments as well.
Because Substack has some annoying rules about publishing identifying personal information such as emails, etc., even when those addresses are publicly available, I won’t publish the information here but if any one of you, any of my 250ish subscribers and nearly 1,000 followers ask me, in the comments or in a direct message or direct email or text message, etc. I will gladly send you the addresses you need to submit your public comment. Hell, if you don’t want to mess with that you can leave your public comment here as a comment to this post and I will forward all of those to these august bodies.
John Crabtree — johncrabtree52@gmail.com — 563-581-2867
[author’s note — these are the comments that I submitted to both the Board of Supervisors’ Land Use & Transportation Committee as well as the Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC). Please feel free to use any of this content however you see fit and I urge you, make your comments this week while the record remains open. Our voices are starting to break through the noise, so, turn up the volume!]
I am submitting this as PUBLIC COMMENT for the four agenda items regarding the Family Upzoning Plan, to which I am expressing opposition because the Upzoning Plan makes the crucial error of upzoning in the Coastal Zone. There are many other issues with this Upzoning Plan, however, I believe that this is the worst and if it is not addressed then no amount of winnowing at the edges will make this upzoning palatable.
Put the Coastal Zone before Upzoning... put infrastructure before density... put tenants before developers... put labor unions before developers... c’mon, put people before profits/developers/billionaires for a change... John Crabtree
Don’t Upzone the Coastal Zone
A lot of bad ideas in the SF Upzoning Plan, but this one is the worst IMO.
Oct 21
I provided an abbreviated version of the following testimony (in-person) to the SF Board of Supervisors Land Use & Transportation Committee at the hearing on these matters on Monday, October 20th. I also provided it today as public comment before the DCCC by electronically submitting it there and I will attend the meeting on 10/22 and do my best to deliver these comments in person. Lastly, I am submitting the comments herewith to the BOS LUTC members and staff.
John Crabtree
1375 35th Ave
The Sunset
San Francisco CA
94122
563-581-2867
City and County of San Francisco
Board of Supervisors
Land Use and Transportation Committee
Re: LUTC 10/20/25 — Genera Plan Amendments – Family Zoning Plan -- Local Coastal Program Amendments – Family Zoning Plan
Position(s): OPPOSE
Supervisors,
My name is John Crabtree; I am a resident of District 4. I am here today to provide comments in opposition to the Family Zoning Plan provisions currently on your agenda – particularly regarding General Plan Amendments to the Western Shoreline Plan and Local Coastal Program Amendments to the Zoning Map and legislation established in the Family Zoning Plan.
Much ado has been made in the media and the debate around the so-called “Family Zoning Plan” — points and counterpoints about whether, or not, the Upzoning Plan will turn the Western Shoreline Coastal Zone into “Miami Beach.”
Unfortunately, that debate has become little more than accusation and denial. But there are issues here that cannot be denied. There are General Plan amendments to the Western Shoreline Plan and amendments to create a new Local Coastal Program in the Family Zoning Plan that is being considered here today for submission to the California Coastal Commission.
Whether or not you believe any of these matters have anything to do with turning the Western Shoreline into Miami Beach or Waikiki Beach, it simply cannot be denied that the Family Zoning Plan intent is to bring upzoning into the Coastal Zone, to create a local coastal zoning program to enhance development in the coastal zone, to create a precedent for upzoning in the coastal zone and create opportunities to develop and increase upzoning in the coastal zone in the future.
The California Coastal Act – was established in 1976 and will turn 50 next year, in 2026. The Coastal Act has, for very nearly half a century, served as a comprehensive policy framework that safeguards California’s coastline. The Coastal Act was, in 1976, as it is today a pivotal policy commitment to stewardship of the coast. The Act itself states that the coast is, “a distinct and valuable resource of vital and enduring interest to all the people” and that it must be preserved for future generations.
Fortunately, the existence of the Coastal Zone and Coastal Commission jurisdiction delineates all of the embedded changes within the Family Zoning Plan with a bright line. General Plan changes (e.g. Western Shoreline Plan amendments), Zoning Map changes and the creation of a new Local Coastal (zoning) Program must all be submitted to and approved by the Coastal Commission. I urge you to oppose all such amendments embedded within the Family Zoning Plan.
There is no compelling argument to alter the Western Shoreline Plan nor to upzone in the Coastal Zone. Senator Wiener, at a recent meeting in The Sunset, said that the Coastal Zone needs to be diminished to allow for more development. But his arguments are decidedly NOT compelling.
Supervisors, there is a clear pathway to support the Coastal Zone and the Coastal Act, to defend the Western Shoreline and to preserve and protect, arguably, the greatest natural resource that we have here in San Francisco — Ocean Beach and the Coastal Zone and Western Shoreline.
I urge you to oppose all of the provisions embedded in the Family Zoning Plan that extend upzoning into the Coastal Zone.
Thank you.
