Seattle Activists Elated as Measure Curbing Downtown Growth Passes

Backers of a grass-roots campaign to curb development in Seattle expressed surprise and elation Wednesday at the decisive victory of a ballot initiative limiting construction of office towers in the city.

Despite a media blitz by developers and elected officials opposed to the measure, the Citizens’ Alternative Plan, or CAP, was passed overwhelmingly in Tuesday’s single-issue special election.

With 99% of precincts reporting, the vote was 42,643 in favor and 26,303 against the measure restricting the density and height of downtown buildings for the next 10 years while a long-range development plan is adopted.

The initiative’s most visible impact will be to limit the height of new buildings to 450 feet, or about 38 stories. In addition, it will allow no more than 500,000 square feet of new space to be added each year through 1994, and 1 million a year from 1994 to 1999.

“I’m so flabbergasted I hadn’t thought about a victory speech,” said Ted Inkley, chairman of the pro-CAP campaign. “I’m in a state of shock. When we started this campaign, we asked ourselves, ‘Who does the city belong to?’ and the voters have answered.”

Although most voting around the nation Tuesday was on growth and money issues, several cities held mayoral primaries.

In Pittsburgh, Pa., 71-year-old Sophie Masloff, who is known for her folksy touch and who describes herself as a “Jewish grandmother,” beat four rivals in the Democratic primary.

Masloff was City Council president last year when she was appointed to fill the vacancy left by the death of Mayor Richard S. Caliguiri. With all but three of the city’s 402 precincts reporting, she had 30,259 votes, or 28%, to 25,089 votes, or 23%, for state Rep. Thomas J. Murphy Jr., and 22,727, or 21%, for Allegheny County Controller Frank Lucchino. Two other candidates received the rest of the votes.

In Jackson, Miss., state Rep. Kane Ditto defeated three-term incumbent Dale Danks Jr. in the Democratic mayoral runoff.

And in Erie, Pa., City Councilwoman Joyce Savocchio defeated five opponents to win the Democratic primary in a bid to succeed six-term Mayor Louis J. Tullio.