Safeway Fight Moves to Fine Print: Opponents Argue the Yacht Harbor Isn't 'Urban Use'
With the big legal arguments largely foreclosed by state housing law, neighbors fighting the 848-unit Marina Safeway towers are now pressing narrow technical claims in federal court.
The months-long battle over Align Real Estate's proposed twin-tower redevelopment of the Marina Safeway has entered a new and more arcane phase. With California's housing-streamlining laws having stripped away most traditional avenues for blocking large residential projects, opponents of the 22-story and 18-story development at 15 Marina Blvd. are now concentrating on statutory fine print — arguing, for instance, that the Marina Yacht Harbor and Fort Mason do not qualify as the 'urban uses' that must border 75 percent of a project's perimeter for it to qualify for expedited approval under Assembly Bill 2011.