While we're not convinced there would be a tremendous impact, we encourage citizens to support a November ballot measure to exempt downtown from growth restrictions because a 1 percent cap, temporary or not, is inappropriate for a high-density area that desperately needs more flexibility for change.
Voters in less than three months will decide whether to exempt the downtown district from an annual, citywide housing cap of 244 new units. Considering that the prospect of vastly improving the downtown housing stock is several years off, take into account the voter-approved growth cap expires five years after the building moratorium ends, and throw in a housing market that continues to drag - and it doesn't appear likely there would be an explosion of growth or renovation work anytime soon.
An active downtown is good for everyone
At the same time, while we also believe voters should reconsider the highly restrictive nature of the 1 percent growth cap approved through a ballot measure in 2002 - including our ability to recruit new industry to the city - developers and property owners must have more flexibility if they choose to progress on downtown projects in the next few years, and the exemption serves to accomplish that.
Most everyone wants an active, pedestrian-friendly downtown where businesses thrive and citizens feel comfortable living. And if the exemption allows for otherwise unattainable progress, there can only be a positive end.
We hope demand increases soon
We just wonder, who's clamoring at the moment to take those significant steps toward breaking ground on new types of housing downtown? Where's the demand that this level of time and attention would warrant? We don't see it, though we hope that changes soon.
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