patrick.net

Good.

Hugolas_Madurez says

Good.

Why "good"? It's a disaster.

The balance of power in SF’s housing wars has shifted

For years, residents could block or delay new housing projects they didn't like. New state laws changed that.

Lack of light. Shade. Noise. Parking. And who could forget “neighborhood character?” These are the issues San Franciscans opposed to new housing development have cited for years. But these weapons, once deadly, seem unable to pierce the armor of new state laws.

That hasn’t stopped people from trying. An entirely affordable housing development known as the “Marvel in the Mission” could break ground at 16th and Mission streets by December, but it is facing last-minute pushback from neighbors who say they are worried about children’s Vitamin D levels.

The stated concern is that the building will block sunlight from the yard at Marshall Elementary School, increasing students’ risk of eye disease, depression, and Vitamin D deficiency. The fears are backed by the community organization People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights, or PODER, and others.

“We know sunlight is medicinal for children,” one mother said in Spanish at a recent outreach meeting about the project.

But UCSF professor of medicine Dr. Daniel Bikle says that’s a flimsy objection to new housing.