By the numbers

-- Mathis Winkler

Supporters of Measure S, also known as the Greenlight Initiative,

added a so-called accumulation period to their measure to prevent

developers from splitting up projects to get them approved without a

citywide vote if the measure passes.

“The idea was to prevent them from ‘piecemealing’ big things in by

making them small,” Allan Beek said. He added that, theoretically, a

developer could build a 120,000-square-foot project in four

30,000-square-foot installments and avoid hitting the 40,000-square-foot

threshold for a referendum.

By keeping a tally on developments in the city’s 49 statistical areas,

this won’t happen, Beek said.

Rather than adding the full project to the development accumulation,

only 80% would count to avoid smaller projects from getting punished. For

example, without this clause a developer could build a 40,000-square-foot

project, which does not require a vote.

All developments that would follow in this particular area -- no

matter how small -- would need voter approval because they’d exceed the

threshold. By only adding 80%, or 32,000 square feet, to the accumulation

roster, there would still be room for an 8,000-square-foot project.

The 10-year accumulation period moves with time. If the council

decides to set 1990 as the start date and count all projects since that

time, 1990 developments would fall off the list in 2001, 1991

developments in 2002 and so on. If council members choose Nov. 7 as the

start date for the accumulation of projects, all projects would count

until 2010.