Lack of light, shade, noise, parking and "neighborhood character" have long been the arguments San Franciscans use against new housing. As of 2025-06-08, those arguments appear to carry far less weight against a wave of new state laws.
That has not stopped residents from trying. A fully affordable development known as the "Marvel in the Mission" could break ground at 16th and Mission streets by December. Some neighbors are pushing back late in the process, saying the building will block sunlight from the yard at Marshall Elementary School and raise students' risk of eye disease, depression and Vitamin D deficiency. The community organization People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights, known as PODER, and others back the concern. "We know sunlight is medicinal for children," one mother said in Spanish at a recent outreach meeting.
Dr. Daniel Bikle, a UCSF professor of medicine, called the objection weak. "Come on, a shadow over a schoolyard? That's pretty lame," he said, adding that parents can simply give children a supplement. He noted that San Francisco's latitude means people cannot produce Vitamin D in winter anyway, and make up for it in summer when school is out.
The site was first planned as a market-rate project that opponents called the "Monster in the Mission." After a seven-year fight driven by gentrification fears, the original developer walked away. In 2022 the city handed the project to community developers Mission Housing and the Mission Economic Development Agency, which redesigned it as 100% affordable housing. Residents have raised other worries at four meetings in five months, including drug activity near planned permanent supportive housing, the height of a 16-story tower, and the idea that wealthier neighborhoods should take on more housing.
In the past, such objections might have stalled the project. State Sen. Scott Wiener said clear rules set in advance should mean quick permits for those who comply. His Senate Bill 423, which took effect last summer, eliminated discretionary review for most projects, so neighbors can no longer delay lawful developments by demanding extra review. The average approval time in San Francisco has fallen from more than two years to seven months. Other laws have eased fourplex construction and limited the ability to restrict tall buildings, and more legislation and a citywide rezoning plan are coming.
The change has a downside, critics say. Six blocks south, landlord Hawk Lou won approval for a 181-apartment tower at 2588 Mission St., on the site of his building that burned in a deadly 2015 fire. A lawsuit by tenants alleged he failed to fix faulty wires and broken fire alarms. Despite opposition from community groups and YIMBY Sam Moss, the Planning Commission approved the plan because it complies with the law. Critics have nicknamed it "La Muerte de la Misión." Lou could not be reached for comment. YIMBY Action's Jane Natoli said the permitting system "isn't equipped" to deliver the extrajudicial relief people seek, and that such claims belong in court.
Tenant advocate Shanti Singh said resident organizing helped turn the Monster into the Marvel and may have limited gentrification, but that this cannot be repeated under the new laws. She said the city lacks a coherent public investment strategy for affordable housing, leaving residents to use the same channels as exclusionary homeowners.
PODER organizer Reina Tello said developers may feel streamlining frees them from engaging with the community, and doubts deregulation will produce buildings given current costs. The Planning Department confirmed that more than 44,000 entitled units remain unbuilt, mostly in mega-developments such as Stonestown and Treasure Island.
The Marvel's developers announced Thursday, after a community vote, that they would not cut any units. Barring further challenges, hundreds of families and formerly homeless people could move in. Tello said PODER will not sue over the height but believes tenants should not depend on developers' goodwill. "Accountability is really hard to find nowadays," she said.
