SF: Even More Slow Growth

A measure backed by the Campaign to Save San Francisco that aims to curb the pace of office development in San Francisco qualified for the November ballot on Monday. The measure will compete with a similar proposal by Mayor Willie Brown. The competing measures are indicative of the controversy behind the explosive growth that the dot-com industry has brought to the city, as activists and slow-growth advocates call for office development restrictions, while business interests assert that limits on expansion will only hurt the economy. Both measures would keep current 950,000-square foot annual limits on office construction, define dot-com development as offices, and ban office construction in certain areas of the city. Brown's measure would allow for more development during the next year, making his initiative more attractive to business interests.

Thanks to California 2000 Project