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SB 4 (Wiener) / Affordability Requirements / Labor Standards / Citywide Housing Incentive Program

Council File 21-1230-S7

Closed — this motion sought to align the city's affordable-housing program with state law requirements, but it was ultimately shelved after a broader housing initiative moved forward through other channels, making the specific directive moot.

Introduced
2024-10-15
Last changed
2026-09-18
CFMS file status
File closed See note on file status
Expires
2028-09-11
Mover
BOB BLUMENFIELD
Second
IMELDA PADILLA
References
Related Council File: 23-0002-S30

This is the City Clerk's status for the council file itself, not the outcome of the measure. A file often stays open after the Council has already adopted an item. The summary above reflects the latest recorded action.

Brief

Councilmembers Blumenfield, Hutt, Lee, McOsker, Rodriguez, and Soto-Martínez moved to adopt labor standards and affordability requirements tied to California's SB 4 (Wiener) for the City's Housing Incentive Program. The motion passed the Planning and Land Use Management Committee in November 2024, then the Housing Committee in September 2026, and was adopted by full Council 14-0-1 on September 16, 2026. The file is now closed.

Full summary

This motion arose from tension between the City's developing Citywide Housing Incentive Program (CHIP) and state law. SB 4 (Wiener), signed in October 2023, allows faith-based organizations and non-profit colleges to build multifamily affordable housing on their land regardless of local zoning, with by-right project approval guaranteed as long as objective standards and environmental protections are met. The state law requires that units remain affordable to households below 80% of area median income for at least 55 years for rentals and 45 years for ownership, and mandates prevailing wages on projects with more than 10 units. Projects of 50 or more units must also provide apprenticeship opportunities and health care coverage for construction workers and their dependents. The motion, introduced by McOsker and co-signed by Blumenfield, Hutt, Lee, Rodriguez, and Soto-Martínez, identified a specific problem: two programs within CHIP's Affordable Housing Incentive Program — the faith-based organization track and the 100% Affordable Housing Project policies — did not comply with state housing production and labor protection requirements. The motion directed the Planning Department and Chief Legislative Analyst, with help from the City Attorney and Housing Department, to develop code language that would fully incorporate SB 4's labor and affordability standards into the City's local implementation of SB 4 projects, and that would remove any local CHIP adaptation of SB 4's intent so that the state law alone governs by-right development incentives on lands it covers. The file was first referred to the Housing and Homelessness Committee, then rerouted to Planning and Land Use Management Committee, which approved it as amended on November 5, 2024, and transmitted it to Housing. Nearly two years later, the Housing Committee took up the matter on September 8, 2026 — and rather than advancing the policy directives, voted unanimously to note and file the motion, effectively ending it without the requested departmental reports being completed or adopted. The committee's action reflected that the broader CHIP process, tracked under related Council File 23-0002-S30, had moved forward through other channels, rendering this discrete motion moot. Full Council adopted the Housing Committee's note-and-file recommendation on September 16, 2026, with a 14-0-1 vote on a motion by Blumenfield and McOsker, and the file was finalized two days later. The closure means the specific directive to align CHIP language with SB 4 standards was resolved — or subsumed — elsewhere in the legislative process rather than through this file.

Activity (11)

  • 2026-09-18 Council action final.
  • 2026-09-16 Council Motion (Blumenfield - McOsker) to adopt the Housing Committee Report, subject to reconsideration, pursuant to Council Rule 51.
  • 2026-09-11 City Clerk scheduled item for Council on September 16, 2026.
  • 2026-09-08 Housing Committee noted and filed item(s).
  • 2026-08-31 Housing Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on September 8, 2026.
  • 2026-08-28 City Clerk rereferred item to Housing Committee, pursuant to Council File No. 26-2000.
  • 2024-11-05 Planning and Land Use Management Committee approved as amended .
  • 2024-11-05 Planning and Land Use Management Committee transmitted Council File to Housing and Homelessness Committee.
  • 2024-11-01 Planning and Land Use Management Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on November 5, 2024.
  • 2024-10-24 Corrected Referral per Council President to include Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
  • 2024-10-15 Motion referred to Housing and Homelessness Committee.

Documents (11)

Council votes (1)

  • 2026-09-16 Adopted — 14-0-1 · Regular

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