Prop I's 'Mission moratorium' stirs controversy in housing debate

SAN FRANCISCO - With election day less than a month away, one of the most contested issues in San Francisco is Proposition I, known as the "Mission moratorium." 

The measure would suspend luxury development in the neighborhood for 18 months while strategies are developed to encourage more affordable housing.    

"What we're asking for is a delay, so we can make a plan, " Prop I supporter Gabriel Medina told KTVU, "we cannot build our way out of this crisis."  

Medina points to several new condominium developments, units that are selling and renting way too high for working class Mission families to get into. 

The temporary moratorium would prohibit permits on multi-unit dwellings, unless they are "affordable housing". 

"We're trying to make sure neighborhoods determine development of housing and not the market," explained Medina.    

Housing -- and the lack of it -- is consistently the number one issue for city voters. 

But Prop. I opponents say the measure will only make the shortage worse. 

"We agree people are getting pushed out of the city," opponent Tim Colen told KTVU. "And it's brutal. But you can't try to build a wall around the Mission and hope people will go away." 

Colen argues that the city already has a plan and a process for neighborhood growth, and while it could be improved, a construction ban is overkill. 

"The solution is not to say 'let's stop everything' and stop building housing. That's exactly the wrong thing to do," declared Colen. 

At Thursday evening's farmer's market, the changing face of the Mission was on full display. 

Young professionals, earning Silicon Valley salaries, are flooding the neighborhood.   

"I know there is discussion about people moving in, and we are those people," shopper Eva Arevuo told KTVU. "But we hope we are giving something back to the community in a positive way." 

Both she and partner Ryan Goetz said they would lean against Prop I. 

"I think to actually get housing to fix the crisis we're in, everywhere, there needs to be development," observed Goetz.

But "yes" voters include many who have grown up in the neighborhood and miss its previous affordability. 

"I've been here my whole life," shopper Aida Lane told KTVU. "And I'm lucky to own my house. But I'm a preschool teacher, and if I can't afford living here, then your children will not have daycare."

The two camps differ on how much housing would be shelved, and tax dollars lost, if Prop I passes. 

At the end of the moratorium, the Board of Supervisors would have the option of voting to extend it by another year.