Growth Not Main Issue in Defeat of Seal Beach Measure, Both Sides Say

Concern over growth had less to do with the defeat of a Seal Beach ballot measure than the way the initiative was written, both sides in the spirited--and expensive--political fight said Wednesday.

Voters turned out in larger than usual numbers in the small seaside city Tuesday to reject Measure A, the SPRING Initiative, by a convincing 2-to-1 margin.

Proponents, including the Seal Beach Preservation Initiative Group, claimed that the measure was a necessary--and timely--tool to stave off unwanted development and preserve the city’s coastal charm. But opponents said the measure, which they characterized as “confusing” and “misleading,” had less to do with growth in the city of 27,000 than establishing a series of laws favoring downtown property owners.

Savings to Landowners

Had it passed, landowners would have been allowed to replace buildings destroyed in natural disasters “in kind” rather than upgrading them to current zoning standards, a potential savings of tens of thousands of dollars.

Elsewhere in Orange County, some slow-growth activists and their opponents had looked on Tuesday’s outcome as a possible preview to the slow-growth initiative on the June 7 countywide ballot.

But Seal Beach resident Barbara Rountree, who helped coordinate signature gathering for the countywide slow-growth measure, said growth was not the issue in the city election. Rountree, who opposed the SPRING initiative, called it “a shotgun approach to a series of unrelated issues.”

Attorney Greg Hiles, an author of the county measure, said the Seal Beach vote will have no bearing on the county measure. “They are totally different,” he said.

The unofficial final vote totals were 5,074 (68.8%) against the initiative and 2,297 (31.2%) in favor.

City Clerk Joanne Yeo said 42.4% of the city’s more than 17,600 voters cast ballots Tuesday, up considerably from the usual 25% to 30% turnout for regular city elections. And discounting Leisure World voters who voted in a large block against Measure A, Yeo said more than 60% of the voters in other precincts opposed it also.

“The proponents described this as a slow-growth initiative,” Seal Beach City Manager Robert Nelson said. “But anyone with a grasp of the English language could see it had nothing to do with growth.”

Nelson, who with the City Council and Planning Commission opposed the measure, called it “special-interest legislation” that was “sugarcoated with talk of saving trees and open space.”

Attorney Bruce Stark, one of SPRING’s founders and an architect of the initiative, said the measure “may have been too broad.” But he said the measure’s authors had tried to encompass varied concerns about growth and density from residents throughout the city, from old town near the beach to newer neighborhoods in College Park East and to the north along the San Diego Freeway.

Stark, who owns several downtown rental units, blamed the defeat on what he labeled a “slick, professionally run” campaign by opponents. The opposition, he said, dumped “huge sums of money” into the campaign in the closing days.

However, his group apparently outspent his opponents by a 4-to-1 margin, raising more than $17,500, which he said was spent on mailers, signs and advertisements in local papers. Opponents spent about $3,600 on a single mailer and some signs, Councilwoman Joyce Risner said.

“He spent an average of $8 a vote, while we spent about 65 cents a vote,” Risner said. “Who outspent who? It’s just more of his half-truths.”

Sending a Message

Still, Stark called the campaign a “tremendous success,” and said his group “shook up” the council and focused new attention on issues of density, parking and traffic. He added that the group may try to qualify a similar measure for the November ballot.

Risner agreed that a message has been sent to the council, that the city must pay closer attention to concerns such as preservation of city trees, one of the initiative’s objectives. The initiative would have prohibited the removal of any trees without the approval of a forestry expert.

“A good idea, but the approach is too extreme,” Risner said. “The initiative was just too cumbersome.”

ELECTIONS RESULTS

Measure A: Shall the Seal Beach preservation and open spaces initiative ordinance for the city of Seal Beach be adopted.

Votes Percent Yes 2,297 31.2 No 5,074 68.8

City Clerk

Votes Percent Vanessa McCants 1,319 18.8 Joanne Yeo 5,694 81.2

City Council (2 to be elected)

Votes Percent Edna Wilson (inc) 1,447 100.0 (unopposed) Frank Laszlo 980 100.0 (unopposed)

Voter turnout 42.4%