Not In My Neighborhood

John Morris will never forget the day four years ago when two bulldozers arrived in his tranquil West Los Angeles neighborhood. The 38-year-old accountant was already harboring doubts about life in the city. It takes him an hour to drive a mere 15 miles to work on the packed freeways, and he no longer wears contact lenses because the smog stings his eyes. Fear of toxic chemicals keeps him from setting foot in nearby Santa Monica Bay.

But when the corner gas station was leveled and replaced by an ugly mini- mall, Morris revolted. "My life has become an endurance test," he moans. He is now a zealous activist in the biggest grass-roots political movement to hit California since the property tax revolt a decade ago. A new battle cry -- Slow Growth -- is erupting from once placid neighborhoods plagued with congested streets and schools. Fed up with sprawling condos, office towers and mini-shopping centers plunked down among single-family houses, residents are demanding limits on unbridled real estate development. The state may never be the same.

Last June voters in Los Angeles ousted City Council President Pat Russell, a staunch ally of Mayor Tom Bradley and developers, replacing her with an unknown who promised to slam the brakes on overbuilding. Bradley has now modified his pro-growth policies to protect his chances for re-election in 1989.

In San Francisco, where densely packed office towers have overshadowed the city's natural skyline, voters in November rejected a proposal to build a baseball stadium downtown. In last month's mayoral runoff election, they spoke even more forcefully by overwhelmingly rejecting Establishment Candidate John Molinari in favor of onetime Neighborhood Activist Art Agnos. Meanwhile, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, along with dozens of other California cities, have passed the most severe growth restrictions in the state's history.

While the most dramatic slow-growth rebellions have occurred in California, similar if less intense movements are emerging across the country. Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin last week called on the legislature to enact a statewide growth-management plan to provide Vermont with "greater control over our destiny." In New Jersey a statewide commission has been appointed to draft a similar plan by 1989. Last fall three pro-growth members of the board of supervisors of Fairfax County, Va., a Washington suburb, were ousted by proponents of slow growth .

A backlash against development was probably inevitable, particularly in rapidly developing Western states, where many residents consider densely packed urban centers uninhabitable. Says Gerald Silver, president of the Homeowners of Encino, Calif.: "We were in favor of progress until we found out what it looks like." This urban claustrophobia is largely a bipartisan phenomenon. In conservative Orange County, Calif., Republicans have joined with liberal Democrats on a ballot initiative to require developers to pay for the impact their projects have on city streets and services. Says Thomas Rogers, a co-sponsor of the measure and a self-described right-winger: "I've got a right to peaceful enjoyment of my property."