Builders to Sue to Block Growth Issue From Ballot

The Building Industry Assn. of Orange County will file a lawsuit today to remove the slow-growth initiative from the June ballot, the trade association said Wednesday.

Sources familiar with the BIA suit said it will challenge the initiative on a number of legal grounds.

The builders will claim that the initiative runs counter to state transportation policy for the entire region. Developers used that argument in 1985 in a suit against the city of Irvine, which tried to block freeway construction within its boundaries. The home builders won the case, but it is currently under appeal.

The suit also will allege that the initiative is otherwise unenforceable and unworkable, sources said.

The BIA would not discuss specifics of the suit Wednesday.

The suit received a lukewarm response from another business organization opposed to the initiative, underscoring a continuing debate among opponents over the most effective way to combat the initiative.

“We’re not involved in this lawsuit, but we are in favor of anything that helps bring the issues before the public,” said John R. Simon, a Newport Beach lawyer and treasurer of Citizens for Traffic Solutions.

“We don’t know if this lawsuit will do that or not,” he added.

Citizens for Traffic Solutions was formed by the local business community to wage a public relations campaign against the initiative. Builders acknowledge that they might alienate voters if they participate publicly in the anti-initiative campaign.

The filing comes only two days after Orange County supervisors voted unanimously to place the initiative on the June 7 primary ballot. All five supervisors oppose the initiative, but polls show that an overwhelming majority of Orange County residents favor it. Sponsors gathered 95,000 signatures to place the initiative on the ballot.

A legal challenge by the county’s home building industry has been expected for months. The filing follows weeks of intermittent and unsuccessful behind-the-scenes negotiations toward a compromise between some developers and supporters of the initiative.

The initiative would link new development in the county to how well traffic flows nearby and would require developers to improve or add adjacent roads near their projects if the new construction would significantly increase congestion.

The trade association contends that the initiative would shut down growth and harm the county’s economy.