New Group Forms to Fight Santa Clarita Growth Cap : Development: Business leaders and residents target April initiative. The measure would limit housing to 475 units annually.

Saying a proposed growth-control initiative would cripple Santa Clarita’s economy, local business leaders and residents announced Tuesday they have formed a group to defeat the measure.

Santa Clarita Citizens for Managed Growth is the second group to oppose the measure since slow-growth advocates proposed allowing only 475 new housing units in the city each year through 2002.

If voters adopt the measure April 14, there would be “dire” economic consequences, including higher housing prices, more low-income housing and fewer new jobs because businesses would be reluctant to locate in the city, said John Fuller, vice president of College of the Canyons and a member of the newly formed group, in a news conference outside City Hall.

The measure could promote more low-income housing because the City Council could exempt affordable housing” from the restrictions of the ordinance, Fuller said.

The measure would “handcuff the city in its efforts to build roads, parks and provide police and fire services” because those improvements are largely funded by developer fees, Fuller said.

Marc Aronson, a business consultant, suggested a potential consequence of the initiative that might be even closer to the hearts of some residents.

“I want to see a Nordstrom in this community, and I’m not sure we’ll have one” if the initiative passes and growth slows, said Aronson, a member of the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce.

A group of 100 residents last year told city officials that getting a Nordstrom ranked high on their list of concerns--above school overcrowding.

Supporters of the growth cap criticized opponents, saying the opponents are motivated by self-interest.

“They’re realtors and developers who perceive that the initiative will have a financial impact on their pocketbooks,” said John Drew, president of Citizens Assn. for a Responsible Residential Initiative on Growth, or CARRING.

Support from developers has traditionally been the kiss of death in Santa Clarita politics. The resounding defeat of a road-tax initiative, known as Measure P, in 1989 was attributed in part to distrust of developers, who supported it. The overwhelming support for Santa Clarita cityhood in the 1987 incorporation election also was seen by many locals as a backlash against development.

Fuller said no developers now belong to Santa Clarita Citizens for Managed Growth, although their financial contributions would be welcome. Members include Joan MacGregor, a local realtor and former school board member, and Aronson.

Last year, developers contributed about $30,000 to the other group opposing the measure, Santa Clarita Residents for Responsible Planning. The group unsuccessfully proposed that the city appoint a task force on growth, but it never registered with the state as a political organization and thus cannot campaign against the initiative, said President Scott Voltz, who attended the newly formed group’s news conference.

Money raised by the new group will be used to pay for newspaper advertisements and direct-mail campaigns against the yet unnamed measure, he said. The group has not raised any money yet, he said. Its first campaign finance statement is due March 5, City Clerk Donna Grindey said.

CARRING’s first financial statement of the year is due Friday. It has raised about $5,000, largely in small contributions from residents, Drew said.