Public Policy and Advocacy

2025 was anything but business as usual for our KC, with a new mayor, the year-end deadline to adopt the housing element, and sweeping housing reforms across the state, it felt like we were moving at warp speed (by SF standards at least). PPAC did not just watch from the sidelines, we rolled up our sleeves and got involved!

Thanks to our longstanding collaboration and coordination with various city departments and officials, PPAC was invited directly into the rooms where policies were being shaped. We advocated for smarter housing solutions, clearer design standards, and a more efficient permitting process in discussions with various Planning, Building, and Public Works departments. From supporting major zoning reform to working on citywide design standards and pushing for permit modernization, we had a lot of fun playing a hands-on role in some of the year's most consequential planning conversations.

When it came to housing in San Francisco, one issue dominated the conversation in 2025: the Family Zoning Plan, an upzoning initiative prepared by the Planning Department and endorsed by Mayor Lurie. PPAC welcomed representatives of the Planning department to the Center for Architecture + Design in July to discuss Family Zoning and the Housing Element with AIASF members.  Thanks to PPAC’s advocacy, member support, and engagement, the AIASF board issued a letter of support for the Family Zoning Plan on behalf of the chapter. PPAC members attended Planning Commission and Land Use meetings, speaking in support of Family Zoning, which was passed and signed into law at the end of the year. 

Another big part of our year has been the Objective Design Standards (ODS), intended to replace the subjective Residential Design Guidelines and design review hearings. At the Planning Department's request, PPAC reviewed and critiqued these new objective standards. After numerous markups and discussions about the new Multifamily, Small Project, and Historic objective standards, we are pleased to say that all three standards have been adopted, with most of PPAC's recommendations included. PPAC continues to be in close contact with Planning on how the ODS are actually working and impacting our design process. Let us know what you think! 

In 2025, Mayor Lurie issued the Executive Directive for permit reform known as PermitSF, creating a task force of various City leaders to “cut the red tape” and improve the approval process. Building on our existing relationships, PPAC set up quarterly meetings with members of this PermitSF task force to discuss their proposed changes and share architects’ perspectives. These discussions have led to a series of small victories, such as making it easier for Architects to access City records, and to larger, ongoing discussions, like City Charter reform. PPAC will continue to meet quarterly with the PermitSF team in 2026 to ensure architects remain meaningfully engaged in shaping SF’s permitting future.

Knowing how important personal relationships are, in 2025, we assigned a PPAC team member to each of the 11 Supervisors to ensure we had a connection with each elected official. PPAC members met with several Supervisors to make sure they knew the AIA was here and that Architects can be a resource when developing legislation. We will continue to work with and build new connections with city leaders in the years ahead. 

Spurred by developments in other cities and a national design competition, PPAC started advocating for single-stair/point-access-block legislation.

In 2025, we met with leaders from the Building & Planning departments and the City Fire Marshal's office to discuss what this could look like in San Francisco. There is a long road to getting single-stair approved, but PPAC will continue to advocate for this and other housing solutions in 2026. 

If any of this sounds exciting to you, please join a PPAC meeting in 2026. Everyone is welcome to listen along, pitch new ideas, and help in our efforts. 

Over the years, AIASF has supported public policy and advocacy work in many forms, including PPAC, which evolved out of long-standing concerns of AIASF members. The focus was SF Planning Department policies and design review procedures.  During 2015 -2016, AIASF established a joint Working Group with SF Planning that included a small cohort of activist architects committed to meeting every two months with the City of San Francisco Director of Current Planning and other staff. This series of discussions addressed residential design review, historic review procedures, and urban design guidelines.

In 2016-2017, this small group expanded its membership and focus by creating the Steering Committee of the newly founded AIASF Public Policy + Advocacy Committee (PPAC).  This group continued to work with the Planning Department while also developing a Strategic Plan for its second year focused on Short- and Long-Range Advocacy programming.  (In addition, a separate, non-AIASF-sponsored advocacy organization, Design Advocacy Group (DAG_SF), was established and issued a series of Opinion Papers). PPAC also worked and continues to work closely with the AIASF Small Firms Group, reporting back regularly.

From 2017 to 2018, the PPAC Steering Committee expanded and initiated programming.  Half of the year’s PPAC meetings were devoted to SF Planning Department issues in discussion with Planning staff.  This agenda included Historic Review Procedures, Residential Design Review Procedures, and an upcoming Residential Design Guidelines review.  The remainder of our meetings focused on short- and long-range advocacy programming.

Wondering what is in the new zoning map? Have you heard of PermitSF but want to know more? Have questions about the Housing Element?

On July 30th, 2025, AIASF's Public Policy and Advocacy Committee (PPAC) hosted a forum with the SF Planning Department to discuss the latest planning developments. Department leaders presented on up-zoning & the new local program, PermitSF, and other updates like Objective Design Standards. 

Watch the Recording HERE

Passcode: 5Rw?n01V

Proposed Zoning Map Local Program DRAFT June 2025