Agran Rebuffed in Try to Place Growth Issue on Irvine Ballot

An effort by Irvine Mayor Larry Agran to put a slow-growth initiative on the city ballot has gone down to defeat.

By a 3-2 vote late Tuesday, the City Council refused to direct the city attorney to draft a slow-growth initiative for Irvine similar to that being proposed countywide.

Agran said he made the proposal because the countywide initiative would apply only to unincorporated portions of the county and not to cities like Irvine. Councilman Ed Dornan supported Agran, saying city voters should be able to express their views on growth.

But most of the council said it was unnecessary to take action at the present time. Ray Catalano, usually an Agran ally, said he was unsure of the meaning of the so-called Sensible Growth and Traffic Control initiative and said it was unwise to bind the city to it.

Council members Sally Anne Miller and Dave Baker echoed this view. They said they do not understand what the impact of adoption of the slow-growth initiative would have on the city, which they said had engaged in good planning since its founding in 1971.