Struiksma Seeks Vote to Bar Offshore Drilling

Saying that he wants to give voters “the legislative clout” to prevent offshore oil drilling in San Diego, acting Mayor Ed Struiksma on Friday proposed that the council put a measure on the June ballot designed to allow the public to block offshore oil exploration.

Patterned after last fall’s Proposition A, which gave voters the authority to prevent building in undeveloped areas, Struiksma’s proposal would require public approval of zoning changes necessary for construction of any on-shore facilities needed to support off-shore drilling operations.

“The time has come to go beyond rhetoric,” said Struiksma, one of four leading candidates in the Feb. 25 mayoral primary. “This proposition will give the people of San Diego the (power) to fight the unwelcome incursion of off-shore drilling.”

Struiksma plans to present his proposal, which is similar to a measure adopted by Santa Cruz voters last year, to the council’s Rules Committee on Monday.

The nitrous oxide produced by a single drilling platform, Struiksma said, equals that caused by 23,000 autos each traveling 50 miles daily for one year. That pollution, the councilman added, not only could seriously damage the city’s tourism industry, but also could lead to local violations of federal clean-air standards, hampering efforts to attract new businesses here.

City Atty. John W. Witt, however, said that there are “unresolved legal questions” about Struiksma’s proposal.

“The question is not simply whether or not you want offshore oil drilling here,” Witt said. “As a land-use matter, the question is whether you can find a reason to . . . ban an otherwise lawful business. To do that, you’d have to find some public health and safety reason to prevent these facilities.

“Besides, when you start to try to use land-use regulations to fight a federal government policy, you’re trying to fight an M60 tank with a bow and arrow.”

The local offshore tracts that oil companies have expressed most interest in are in the North County area, not along the city’s waterfront.

But Struiksma noted that representatives of oil firms will meet with federal officials in Los Angeles next month to identify the areas where they hope to drill, adding that “urgent action is needed” to preclude the possibility of drilling off the city’s coastline.