San Francisco Board of Supervisors override mayor's veto on housing measure

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco's Board of Supervisors on Tuesday overrode a veto by Mayor London Breed involving a measure that will restrict building in some historic neighborhoods. 

The measure will modify density limits in the Northeast Waterfront Historic District and the Jackson Square Historic District. 

Supervisor Aaron Peskin said the measure will protect the small districts on the Bay from supersized massive luxury towers. 

Three supervisors voted against the measure, including District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey.

"I think this risks opening the door to more problematic steps. More neighborhoods making the argument they are historically significant," said Dorsey. 

Mayor Breed called the vote to override her veto a setback in the push to build more housing. 

Breed said in a statement, "Our current housing shortage is the result of decades of bad policy decisions and inaction. And it will take years of consistent and relentless work to make the necessary change to get more housing built. That's the work ahead of us." 

The mayor said she wants San Francisco to be a city of "yes on housing." 

Board President Aaron Peskin disagreed with the mayor. He characterized this as a situation where the city can be both pro-housing and pro-neighborhood. He said in a statement that developers will still be able to build bigger and higher, but they won't be able to demolish buildings on certain blocks and replace them with towers that are the same height as Telegraph Hill itself.