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Big news: Later today, Supervisor Mandelman and SF Planning are hosting an important community forum to discuss making the Castro District a historic landmark district. This proposal is shockingly regressive. It would downzone in a rich white neighborhood. sfplanning.org/event/potent...

In December 2025, the Historic Preservation Commission quietly passed a resolution giving the Board of Supervisors permission to grant historic landmark status to 3 neighborhoods upzoned by the Family Zoning Plan: the Castro District, one block of 24th St Noe Valley, and Glen Park's commercial zone.

Take a look at the proposed Castro historic district (1st 🖼️), in the areas shaded by diagonal lines. Orange properties have buildings which "contribute" to the historic district. Now compare it with the height limits in last year's Family Zoning Plan. There's a lot of overlap. That's a big problem.

The Castro District upzoning in the Family Zoning Plan is implemented as a density bonus program called Housing Choice - San Francisco (HC-SF). One of the conditions for eligibility is that a project can't demolish a building that contributes to the status of a historic district.

If the Castro District became a landmark district, that means that a big chunk of land close to transit and specifically zoned for buildings up to 160' tall would no longer be eligible for HC-SF. Mandelman is effectively proposing to downzone the Castro District, especially for affordable housing.

San Francisco's 2023 housing element talks a big game about reversing exclusionary zoning. But here we have, as plain as day, a proposal to reintroduce exclusionary zoning near a major transit stop. And it comes from the President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

You might ask yourself how the Historic Preservation Commission and SF Planning Dept could justify recommending a historic district despite the outcome. SF is mandated by state law to affirmatively further housing. How could they justify reducing affordable housing in the Castro?

Incredibly, SF Planning's racial and social equity analysis only looks at the consequences of releasing its recommendations for historic districts. The text totally ignores the impact of actually creating the historic districts.

So what makes the Castro District historic? Let's look at 558-564 Castro St, an unremarkable three-story building, as admitted by the property's report. However, in the 70s the building had a gay bar, then a gay bookstore, and then a gay real estate office. Today these businesses are gone.

SF Planning's report is full of references to past businesses and in some cases past households. The entry for 480-498 Castro St says the Walgreens building is historic because in the 80s it housed a queer household with some notable roommates and visitors. citypln-m-extnl.sfgov.org/Commissions/...

Were these businesses and people from the 70s-90s important? Yes. The Castro District became a queer neighborhood because of their actions. But preserving the buildings they lived in is an awful way to honor their legacy. It would only sacrifice the future of queer people in San Francisco.

I cannot emphasize enough how much of a bad idea this is. This historic district will not accomplish anything except block more housing, especially affordable housing. It may even have further consequences, since it would reverse parts of a rezoning mandated by state housing element law.