COMMENTARY ON MEASURE B : ...

Why should Irvine residents vote “No” on Measure B? The answer is simple, the consequences profound. Village 38 is a poorly planned development that will damage the quality of life in Irvine without providing any substantial benefit to the city or its current residents.

Despite the million-dollar disinformation campaign waged by the Irvine Co. and its hired political consultants, Measure B is neither about the wisdom of the Master Plan nor the intention of the 1988 Open Space Agreement. Such claims are deceptively designed to frighten and bully voters into endorsing a bad plan for development.

“No” on Measure B is a vote against bad planning, not a rejection of the Master Plan. When voters overwhelmingly approved the 1988 Open Space Agreement (as they should again by endorsing Measure C on this year’s ballot), they agreed to give the Irvine Co. development rights in exchange for open space. They did not , however, surrender the responsibility and authority of the City Council or the voters to negotiate, judge, and approve (or reject) new Irvine Co. developments.

As two city attorneys have stated repeatedly, the Open Space Agreement does not require the City Council or the voters to approve any particular Irvine Co. development plan. Open space is not jeopardized by a “No” vote on Measure B.

The Irvine Company’s linkage of open space to the vote on Village 38 is false and defies the fundamental promise of the Master Plan, namely that any project approved in Irvine should benefit the city and be a source of pride for its residents. Village 38 is not such a plan. Building Village 38 benefits no one other than the multibillion-dollar Irvine Co. Voters should reject it, forcing the company to come back to the City Council in a year with a better plan--and forcing the council to negotiate with the Irvine Company to benefit Irvine’s residents, instead of Irvine’s land giant. Irvine residents should never be sold short again.

As proposed, Village 38 is fraught with problems:

* Dramatic increases in traffic congestion, with 28,000 new traffic trips per day--completely unmitigated by the plan;

* Reductions in Irvine property values;

* Further degradation of air quality;

* Potential tax increases to cover the costs of city services for more than 10,000 new residents;

* Added burdens on overloaded city services;

* Inadequate alternative forms of transportation;

* Intensification of overcrowding in area schools;

* Strain on scarce resources of potable water;

* Danger from electromagnetic radiation;

* Inadequate institutional zoning;

* No guarantee of adequate affordable housing;

* Intolerable noise pollution and potential danger from the neighboring helicopter base, for at least the next six years.

“No” on Measure B is a vote for good planning and a vote for open space in exchange for good plans. It is also an opportunity for residents to declare their independence from manipulation by the Irvine Co. The residents of Irvine are masters of the Master Plan, not its obedient servants. Since there will (and should) be future development in Irvine, voters should send a clear message to the City Council and the Irvine Co. that their votes will not be bought and the quality of life in Irvine will not be compromised. Vote “No” on Measure B.