Silicon Valley Cities Taking Breather from Dot-Com Influx

REDWOOD CITY, CA-Following the lead of Redwood City and San Mateo, the cities of Menlo Park and San Carlos are mulling temporary moratoriums that restrict “Internet-based businesses” from building, leasing or renovating certain space.

The goal is to keep dot-com companies from gobbling up retail storefronts and light industrial parks for their office space, clogging up streets and in the case of pure on-line sales companies, giving nothing back in the form of sales tax revenues.

Lighting a path for other affected cities, the San Mateo City Council recently broadened its 45-day ground-floor office moratorium to include more than just its Downtown. Redwood City also is limiting ground-floor offices and requiring more parking throughout the city. The city has almost 100 dot-com firms, half of which have moved to town since January.

Planners in both cities are spending the next few weeks coming up with more long-term limits that likely will include tighter boundaries for new office construction. Meanwhile, San Francisco residents will vote in November on two competing ballot initiatives that would further restrict office development in certain city districts.

Officials from Menlo Park and San Carlos are to date only considering such a moratorium, while East Bay cities like Oakland, San Leandro and Union City are still happily making room.