ABSTRACT
Nationally, 1968 was not a particularly good year for the United States. The light at the end of the Viet Nam tunnel went out with the Tet offensive, and President Johnson withdrew as a candidate amidst increasing discontent with the war. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were murdered. During the year about 100 zoning cases came before the planning commission. Each one required a staff recommendation. They included proposals to change the zoning on a hilltop to prevent apartment house development and to convert the basement and garage of a home in a residential area to medical offices. The proposal had been lodged in the planning committee of the Board of Supervisors since July 1967 and would finally be acted on in May 1968. Once the matter was in the hands of the supervisors they had to be convinced that it was proper to refer it to the planning department for a recommendation.
