Lawsuit, PAC Readied : Businessmen Gear Up to Defeat Slow-Growth Initiative

The strategy that Orange County business groups will use to try to defeat the county slow-growth initiative is taking shape in a new political action committee and a lawsuit already prepared for filing.

The Orange County Building Industry Assn., a powerful trade group representing home builders, has drawn up a lawsuit designed to prevent the initiative from going before voters.

One of the lawsuit’s key points is identical to the strategy used by the building industry against a group of Irvine residents who opposed construction of freeways in that city.

Earlier Measure Barred

In 1985, the builders filed a lawsuit contending that it was unfair to allow citizens of one city to block road programs that would benefit traffic flow in the surrounding region.

An Orange County Superior Court agreed and barred the residents’ initiative from the ballot. A state Court of Appeal upheld the decision, and the issue is now before the state Supreme Court.

The suit prepared by home builders to combat the slow-growth initiative will argue--as the earlier suit did--that the initiative runs at cross-purposes to state transportation policy for the entire region.

The new suit also will challenge some of the provisions of the initiative as overly expensive and unworkable.

Suit Almost Filed

The builders are still debating the most advantageous time to file the lawsuit. Some sources said it was almost filed last week, but the builders apparently decided to wait until after Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

Three of the five supervisors have said they intend to vote Tuesday to place the initiative on the June 7 primary ballot.

The builders have been careful so far not to mount a high-profile public relations campaign against the initiative for fear of alienating voters.

That effort will instead be waged by a newly formed political action committee called Citizens for Transportation Solutions, which will hold a press conference Monday to criticize the initiative.

The committee, which says it includes homeowner associations as well as businesses, is expected to take the lead in a public relations offensive against the initiative.

Supporters of the initiative say it would link new construction in unincorporated areas of the county to the ability of roads and other public services to handle the growth.

Opponents say it would halt construction of new homes in the county, sending prices skyrocketing. They also contend that it would shut down developer-funded road building programs, increasing taxes paid by homeowners.

Issue of Taxes

The tax issue will probably be stressed in the public relations offensive waged by opponents.

While builders and developers may contribute money to the new political action committee, it is unlikely that they will take a highly visible role, said Wayne Wedin, a consultant and one of the committee’s founders.

“We’re not excluding them, but the builders have really coalesced their activities around the (Building Industry Assn.),” he said. “I doubt very much you’ll see much activity by them outside the BIA.”

Wedin said he didn’t know how much money the group has raised and wasn’t sure what its fund-raising goals are.