Land Reform, Seattle Style

The city's mayor bids for a FLUBA Dumbassy (only awarded for remarks so dumb, so embarrassingly foolish, that a normal person--when it dawned on him what he had said--would apply for acceptance at the nearest Trappist monastery) for this attempt to confiscate private property:

Seattle can preserve manufacturing jobs by limiting how many shops and offices can be built on industrial land, Mayor Greg Nickels proposed this morning.

Nickels said at a news conference that his plan will provide job and business opportunities "by ensuring that industrial land is safeguarded for industrial and manufacturing uses by putting strict new limits on the amounts of office and retail space allowed in industrially zoned areas."

The mayor's proposal, which requires City Council approval, could potentially reduce land values across a swath of industrial land south of downtown, in Ballard and in the Interbay area.

....Nickels' recommendations include reducing the maximum amount of office space allowed on land zoned "industrial general" from 100,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet per site.

Retail space would be limited to 10,000 square feet as well, compared to the previous maximum of 75,000 square feet.

Gee, anyone think the idea may have been suggested by a labor union representing manufacturing workers?

At any rate, if you're an 800 lb gorilla, you can relax:

The mayor provided an exemption for Starbucks, whose headquarters is located in the Duwamish industrial area. The coffee company would be allowed to expand its offices, under the mayor's plan.