San Francisco's planning and permitting process has become so complicated and expensive that former advocates of preservation are now fighting back against the city's historic preservation efforts.
"San Francisco's planning and permitting process has long been notoriously laborious. Then, in 2008, voters passed a ballot initiative that transformed the city's Historical Preservation Commission from an advisory body to one with enforcement powers over land use decisions. The measure, backed by Aaron Peskin, the outgoing Board of Supervisors president, was seen as a coup de grâce by the antidevelopment members of the board who had risen in power during the 2000s," writes Matt Smith in The New York Times.
... "For some historic building buffs, however, the Duboce Park backlash raises the question: If city preservationists cannot obtain support for preserving a pristine cluster of Victorian houses, will they be able to proceed with seemingly more controversial plans to keep development out of dormant industrial zones?"
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