Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Land Use and Transportation Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors met on October 5, 2026, chaired by Supervisor Mirna Melgar. The committee considered six items: a landmark expansion for the Compton's Cafeteria Riot site, an ordinance to limit evictions for small rent debts, a requirement for total rent disclosure in listings, a mezzanine definition alignment with building codes, a ceiling height reduction for habitable rooms, and an interim moratorium on data centers. All items were advanced to the full Board of Supervisors.
Public comment was taken on each agenda item. For the Compton's landmark, speakers including Compton's ex-coalition members, community advocates, and a former resident expressed strong support for the expansion, emphasizing the site's international importance to transgender history and the need to eventually protect the interior against owner Geo Group's resistance. On the eviction ordinance, tenant counselors and residents shared stories of families displaced over small debts, urging passage; a landlord representative argued for a trigger law pending a state Supreme Court decision. The rent disclosure item drew support for transparency and a request from the Coalition for Better Housing to limit early termination rights. Ceiling height reduction received broad support from homeowners, housing advocates, and a property owner who faced code violations for decades. Data center moratorium speakers overwhelmingly supported the pause, citing environmental justice, noise, water use, and the clustering of industrial uses in District 10; one industry veteran offered guidance during the study period.
Supervisor Bilal Mahmoud presented a clerical amendment to expand the landmark boundary to the entire exterior of the building at 101-121 Taylor Street, with an added finding urging future reconsideration of interior protection. The interior was excluded due to inability to verify current conditions after property owner Geo Group denied access. The committee voted unanimously to adopt clerical amendments, duplicate the file with an additional finding urging reconsideration, and send the amended original to the full board with a positive recommendation.
Supervisor Jackie Fielder introduced a measure to prevent evictions for unpaid rent below the annual HUD fair market rent for an equivalent-sized unit. Fielder noted that evictions are at a 10-year high, over half are for nonpayment, and approximately 25% of nonpayment cases involve debts below the proposed threshold. Supervisor Matt Dorsey and others voiced support, describing the policy as a buffer against displacement. The committee voted 3-0 to recommend the ordinance to the full board.
Supervisor Mahmoud’s ordinance requires online listings and leases to disclose a "total estimated cost" including all recurring fees, and allows tenants to terminate leases early if fees were not adequately disclosed. Non-substantive amendments were adopted to clarify intent. The committee voted 3-0 to recommend the amended ordinance.
A technical ordinance to align the Planning Code's mezzanine definition with the more expansive Building Code definition, previously amended and continued. No public comment. The committee voted 3-0 to send it to the full board.
Supervisor Alan Wong’s ordinance reduces minimum ceiling height from 7'6" to 7'0" for habitable rooms and to 6'8" for other rooms in existing buildings, matching state residential code. Supporters argued it would unlock thousands of existing in-law units for legalization. The committee voted 3-0 to adopt amendments and recommend the amended ordinance.
Supervisor Shamann Walton proposed a 45-day urgency moratorium to halt data center approvals citywide while studying energy, water, air quality, and cumulative impacts, particularly in overburdened District 10. Supervisor Dorsey offered clarifying amendments to exempt accessory computing uses (e.g., server rooms) and routine repair/maintenance. The committee voted 3-0 to adopt the amendments and forward the moratorium as a committee report to the full board.
Good afternoon, everyone. The meeting will come to order. Welcome to the October 5th, 2026 regular meeting of the Land Use and Transportation Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. I am Supervisor Mirna Melgar, Chair of this committee, joined by Vice Chair, Supervisor Cheyenne Chen, and Supervisor Matt Dorsey. The committee clerk today is John Carroll. And I also would like to acknowledge Jeanette Engelauf at SFGov TV for staffing us during this meeting. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcements? Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. Please ensure that you've silenced your cell phone and other electronic devices you've brought with you into the chamber today. If you have any documents to be included as part of any of today's files, you can submit those documents directly to me. Public comment will be taken on each item on today's agenda. When your item of interest comes up and public comment is called, please line up to speak along your right hand side of this room. Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing in either of the following ways. First, you may send your public comment via email. My email address is J-O-H-N. Period C-A-R-R-O-L-L at SFGOV.org. Or you may send your written comments via U.S. Postal Service to our office in City Hall. The clerk's office is in room 244, and our address at City Hall is one Dr. Carlton B. Goodlit Place. San Francisco, California 94102. If you submit public comment in writing, I will forward your comments to the members of this committee and also include your comments as part of the official file on which you are commenting. Items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors' agenda of October 20th, 2026, unless otherwise stated. Thank you so much. Uh Mr. Clark, please call item number one. Agenda item number one is an ordinance amending the landmark designation for landmark number 307, the Turk and Taylor Streets intersection, together with defined portions of 101 Taylor Street, known as the site of Compton's cafeteria riot under Article 10 of the Planning Code, to include the entire building at 10121 Taylor Street and to expand the period of significance, affirming the planning department's CEQA determination and making other findings as appropriate. This item is on our agenda as a potential committee report, and it may be sent for consideration by the Board of Supervisors on their agenda October 6th, 2026. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. We are now joined by District 5 supervisor Bilal Mahmoud, the sponsor of this item. Uh Supervisor Mahmoud, the floor is yours. Thank you, Chair Malgar. By now I imagine all of us are familiar with the story of the Compton's cafeteria riot. The location of Jean Compton's cafeteria at the corner of Turk and Taylor was a significant third space for the transgender community in San Francisco in the 1960s. At the time, cross dressing was illegal, and trans women in particular were targeted by staff at the cafeteria and the police department. These tensions came to a head one night in August 1966, when after a police officer attempted to arrest a trans woman, she fought back, galvanizing the trans community and their allies against the police. The violent clash is recognized as the beginning of the transgender activism movement in San Francisco, and a precedent to Stonewall riot three years later in New York City. It's become an incredibly meaningful symbol for the community. It was central to the creation of the transgender district and as the setting of a play. In 2022, the Historic Preservation Commission and this board approved a landmark designation for the site of the riot, but limited it to just the facade and the sidewalk in front of the building, and not the whole building itself. It was a step in the right direction, but understold the historic significance of the whole building. The entire building is already on the National Register for Historic Places.