The Region : Initiative to Curb Development Gains

Los Angeles City Councilmen Zev Yaroslavsky and Marvin Braude filed an estimated 104,000 petition signatures calling for a November vote on their initiative to curb commercial development. The measure, which is opposed by development interests and labor unions, requires the signatures of 69,516 registered voters to qualify. The city clerk’s office will check the validity of the signatures and report its findings in 15 days, a spokesman said. Yaroslavsky and Braude called the signature drive, which included 400,000 mailers sent out in the last two months, “unprecedented” and said it revealed voters’ deep concern about overdevelopment. The measure would cut in half future development permitted on most commercial property outside of downtown, the Wilshire District, Hollywood and Century City.