San Clemente : Council Will Consider Own Growth Initiative

The City Council will decide Wednesday whether it wants to place its own measure on the the ballot of the Feb. 25 special election ballot to oppose a public slow-growth initiative.

The deadline for getting an alternative ordinance on the ballot is Friday, so the council called a special meeting for Wednesday in order to consider, and possibly approve, a council-backed alternative.

Initiatives can be placed on the ballot either by petition signed by at least 15% of the registered voters or by council resolution.

The council, led by Mayor Pro Tem William Mecham and Councilman Scott Diehl who argued last week that petition signers did not fully understand the issue, voted 3 to 2 last week to have an alternative initiative drafted in time for Wednesday’s meeting.

Mayor Robert Limberg also voted to hold the special meeting.

The ordinance, drawn up by the city staff over the weekend, was made available to council members and the press late Monday. It would set no numerical limit on new home construction but would allow building only if “adequate provision has been made for all necessary public services and facilities.”

The city’s ordinance also would allow development only if an independent study showed that it would have a positive fiscal impact on the city.

Nineteen percent of the city’s electorate signed petitions for the slow-growth initiative, which would place a limit of 500 new homes per year on backcountry construction. The permits would be allocated by a new city agency, based on design and public welfare considerations.

Building permits this year already total more than 1,300, and backcountry developers have proposed putting up about 14,000 more units during the next 10 to 15 years.

Initiative sponsors Dr. Brian Rice and Tom Lorch maintain that city services cannot keep pace with that kind of rapid growth. The city, however, says that placing an artificial cap on construction will lead to unbalanced development, as developers are forced to narrow the range of housing options they can offer.

Voters could conceivably approve both measures, in which case the ordinance with the most yes votes would go into effect.