Proposition U: Growth Limits

I am extremely disappointed with your opposition to Proposition U. During the 26 years I lived in West Los Angeles, I watched high-density commercial and residential development strangle traffic flow and erode neighborhood ambiance. Despite the legitimate protests of “citizen activists,” an unsympathetic mayor and City Council still encourage the urban cancer to intensify and to metastasize.

The city’s own commercial growth ordinance’s flexibility is not a strength, but a fatal weakness. In northern San Diego County, our otherwise well-designed General Plan was systematically undercut by a 10-year series of density-boosting amendments, written by a pro-growth Board of Supervisors in the name of “flexibility” and “changing needs.” Each new plan exception became a precedent for the next.

Similarly, given the Los Angeles City Council’s abysmal record on growth management, I confidently predict Los Angeles will continue its pursuit of The Ultimate Gridlock if the voters are fooled into rejecting Prop. U.

JOHN A. ELDON

Encinitas