By Rachel Brahinsky

A proposal to stem development on the north side of Potrero Hill drew an overflow crowd at City Hall Nov. 22 as supporters and opponents passionately debated the measure before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Land Use Committee. With the majority of speakers representing the development industry, the scene was reminiscent of Planning Commission hearings in the late 1990s, when the Residential Builders Association would face off against slow-growth activists over the industrial zones of the Mission District and South of Market.

These days Joe O'Donoghue's RBA is still angling to build housing in industrial neighborhoods – and the north Potrero flatlands, dubbed Showplace Square because of its large number of design industry companies, is one of the prime battlegrounds.

It just might be that the area is ideal for more housing, as a cadre of developers and real estate brokers testified. But neighbors said they want the city to finish its years-long planning process first – so that any development that occurs will follow planning logic and not just the logic of profit.

That's the sentiment behind the legislation under consideration, written by Sup. Sophie Maxwell, which would halt development while mandating that the Planning Department finish its Showplace Square design within one year (see "The Potrero Land Rush," 11/17/04).

It's not an anti-housing measure, which is part of why Kate White, director of the Housing Action Coalition, a staunchly pro-housing group, spoke in favor of it. "I think there should be a lot more housing in the eastern neighborhoods, but the plan needs to be definitive," White told the Bay Guardian.

The RBA builders whose projects would be stopped are painting matters in somewhat different colors. They say they're being targeted while downtown-financed housing developers who also have projects in the area have been exempted from the plan.

Was Maxwell's plan designed to address the city blocks where homes and industry are most likely to clash? Or did she cave to downtown developers who pressured her to cut them out of the controls? Did the RBA developers buy Potrero property knowing the city's indecision would leave a loophole for them to build without controls? Or do they just want to help the city with its housing crisis? There's more to come in the next few weeks.

The Land Use Committee is slated to vote on the controls Dec. 6.

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