The Mission is a neighborhood looking to put its rough past behind it while retaining its artistic and Latino heritage. But the delicate balancing act between old and new, between the desires of longtime residents and wealthier, whiter newcomers, is a constant challenge.

That tension has grown as new, upscale restaurants set their sights on an area of the Mission around 24th Street, looking to cater to new residents in a neighborhood where bodegas, Latino grocery stories and taquerias still line the streets.

In response, Supervisor David Campos and Mayor Ed Lee have introduced legislation that aims to temporarily halt restaurants from opening on 24th Street and the surrounding blocks.

Campos said the bill is essential to stabilizing the community’s “small, neighborhood-serving businesses.” It is also the first step in making the area a special-use district, meaning many new businesses would have to pass muster with the City Planning Commission to affirm that they are in line with the neighborhood’s character.

Which raises the question: What kinds of businesses belong in a neighborhood, and who gets to decide?

That question is fueling tension in a neighborhood beset by an influx of new residents, sparkling new buildings and steeply rising rents.

A group called Open 24th, which describes itself as “advocating for a vibrant retail corridor that meets the needs of all residents,” has come out against the legislation. It criticizes the neighborhood association that is pushing it as a “special-interest group” that aims to “represent the interests of a subset of the neighborhood’s population.”

Feeling bullied

According to one critic, that association, called Calle 24, acts like a bully that blacklists uncooperative businesses.

“I am supportive of celebrating and promoting the culture. But Calle 24 is an exclusionary special-interest group at the end of the day,” said Brooke Segaran. “They are not even attempting to represent the needs of the neighborhood as a whole as it’s represented today.”

Segaran, who moved to the neighborhood four years ago, said she and other residents “are interested in having more options available to them at night, and that includes sit-down restaurants.”

Calle 24, which was formed 17 years ago, rejects the idea that it is exclusionary. Erick Arguello, president of the group, says it is composed of a diverse cross-section of longtime residents, merchants and arts organizations seeking to preserve the neighborhood’s Latino culture.

“Twenty-fourth Street has always had a different feel to it. It had the butcher shops, the bakeries, the shoe repairs,” said Arguello, 55, who emigrated from Nicaragua as a small child to the Mission 52 years ago. “We are trying to maintain Latino businesses and smaller mom-and-pop businesses.”

But Arguello said Segaran is right on one point: He isn’t interested in bringing new, upscale restaurants or hipster breweries to the neighborhood.

And that dynamic has caused tensions. Michael Meadows, who opened a wine bar on 24th Street in 2013, says he felt “blacklisted” by the association.

That grew out of a disagreement centered on existing floor-to-ceiling murals inside the restaurant. Meadows said that to comply with disability-access laws, he had to do extensive repairs, which meant painting over the murals. Arguello thought Meadows should have done more to save the paintings, which were part of a neighborhood mural tour.

After that, Meadows said, local artists who had been planning a show in his restaurant pulled out.

“I felt stagnated,” said Meadows, who sold the restaurant this year. “When we had the opportunity to do something to help the neighborhood, it felt like they were working against us because we weren’t in line with their values.”

Opposite viewpoints

Arguello’s take, unsurprisingly, is different: “There was basically a lack of respect he had for the community and the murals.”

Such disputes have taken on heightened importance because Calle 24 could have a big say over what businesses can open if the area becomes the Calle 24 Special Use District. The idea is to make the zoning similar to that in Japantown, where new businesses must be approved as compatible “with the cultural and historic integrity, neighborhood character, development pattern, and design aesthetic” of the district, according to the planning code.

While the department would have final say on what businesses meet those requirements, Calle 24’s recommendations — as the main neighborhood organization — could have significant influence.

Campos has indicated to the Board of Supervisors that the next step — legislation creating the special-use district — would be forthcoming. First the board must pass his current proposal, which would temporarily ban the merging of storefronts to prevent restaurants from replacing small retail shops.

The fact that the mayor has thrown his support behind the legislation means it is likely to pass. And while Lee and Campos frequently disagree on housing policies, the mayor has prioritized strengthening the unique cultural aspects of the city’s commercial districts.

For now, Arguello said his association is in an uphill battle to keep Latino-run businesses alive.

In 2013, Calle 24 led a successful campaign to keep two longtime businesses along 24th Street open after they were threatened with eviction: Librería San Pedro and G.G. Tukuy Indigenous Arts and Crafts. The Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, which owns the properties, wanted to sell them to a restaurateur who planned to merge them.

Philosophical about change

Cesar Oyagata, an Ecuadorian immigrant who owns Tukuy Indigenous Arts and Crafts — tukuy means “all” in Quechua, a South American language — was contemplative about the changes in the neighborhood.

He remembers the days when gangs ran freely and tourists rarely came by. The influx of tourists is good for business, he said, because immigrant families in the neighborhood have little interest in artisans. They want brand-name goods.

But Oyagata, who studied theology and leadership, wonders what will happen when his renegotiated lease expires in a year and a half. “At the best, it will be time to change,” he said.

Emily Green is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer: E-mail: egreen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @emilytgreen