By Roland Li : sfchronicle – excerpt
A San Francisco ballot measure to put new limits on office development was holding a hefty lead Tuesday night.
Proposition E, which would tie allowable office construction to the amount of affordable housing built in the city, was ahead 55% to 45% with 100% of precincts reporting. The measure needs a simple majority to pass, but an unknown number of mail-in ballots were still outstanding.
A San Francisco ballot measure to put new limits on office development was holding a hefty lead Tuesday night.
Proposition E, which would tie allowable office construction to the amount of affordable housing built in the city, was ahead 55% to 45% with 100% of precincts reporting. The measure needs a simple majority to pass, but an unknown number of mail-in ballots were still outstanding.
Nonprofit sponsor Todco sought to reduce office growth if the city failed to meet state affordable housing goals, where it has consistently fallen short…
“The commercial sector is growing so fast because of the boom,” John Elberling, executive director of Todco, previously said. “We’re not keeping up with the housing needs of all the new workers that are flooding into the Bay Area.”
Under 1986’s Proposition M, the city can approve only 875,000 square feet in large office projects each year, with unused space rolling over to the next year. Prop. E would reduce the amount of office space that can be approved by a percentage equal to the city’s shortfall in issuing building permits for affordable housing… (more)