Voters to weigh in on potential higher densities
Voters finally will get a chance to weigh in on zoning changes to allow densities up to 30 units per acre on properties identified by the City Council as potential sites for affordable housing, making next year’s municipal election one of the most significant in city history.
On the ballot will be “yes” or “no” decisions for rezoning on 11 of 14 properties council placed on a list for higher density, multi-family housing to meet a state mandate. A total of 859 units would be allowed on 36.16 acres, including 30 acres on the city’s west-side.
Three of the 14 sites, totaling 16.85 acres for 168 allowable units, won’t be on the ballot, since a public vote is only required to increase residential densities to more than 10 units per acre under Measure B.
Measure B is the city’s Right-to-Vote ordinance, approved by voters in June 2006 by a 299-vote margin out of 13,543 cast. State officials view Measure B as a “constraint” to meeting an allotment of 2,039 housing units for the 2008-20014 reporting period.
The 2,039 units include 460 very low income, 371 low income, 412 moderate income and 796 above moderate income. The numbers are “a planning target and not a building quota, so long as the city provides sufficient sites and does not impose constraints to development,” such as a negative Measure B vote, according to a city staff report.
Altogether, the 14 properties could be developed with 1,027 multi-family units: 641 units on six sites totaling 21.4 acres (at 30 units per acre), 141 units on two sites totaling 7.09 acres (20 units per acre) and 245 units on six sites totaling 24.52 acres (10 units per acre).
Specific sites were listed in my Sept 15 column, a May 26 Yorba Linda Star legal ad, flyers mailed to residents within 2,000 feet of a proposed site and on the city website.
Originally, the state required the city to eliminate the Measure B constraint by the June 8, 2012, primary election, but that deadline was extended to the Nov. 6 general election, due to ballot expense, estimated at up to $128,500 in June and a modest $8,500 in November.
The city will pay all election-related costs, including for the portion of the voter pamphlet listing the zone changes and “for” and “against” arguments, as well as “anticipated” costs that “would be earmarked for a Measure B education program,” stated a city staff report.
The only other Measure B election was November 2010’s Measure Z to approve 30 units per acre on the 3.2 acre former Mitsubishi Motors site at Savi Ranch, losing by 197 votes out of 26,491 cast, despite unanimous council support.
The last time voters approved a ballot measure dealing with densities was in 1972, when the low-density General Plan was put to a vote and passed by 415 votes out of 4,219 cast.
A “no” vote next year would put the city’s housing plan “out of compliance” with state law, resulting in “potential consequences,” including litigation from affordable housing advocates, court sanctions and loss of local land use authority, a city report noted.
Also on the ballot will be three council seats, with Nancy Rikel and Mark Schwing eligible to run and Jim Winder ineligible due to the city’s three-term limit. Vote to identify the 14 sites for higher densities was 3-2, Rikel and Schwing opposed.
On the ballot will be “yes” or “no” decisions for rezoning on 11 of 14 properties council placed on a list for higher density, multi-family housing to meet a state mandate. A total of 859 units would be allowed on 36.16 acres, including 30 acres on the city’s west-side.
Three of the 14 sites, totaling 16.85 acres for 168 allowable units, won’t be on the ballot, since a public vote is only required to increase residential densities to more than 10 units per acre under Measure B.
Measure B is the city’s Right-to-Vote ordinance, approved by voters in June 2006 by a 299-vote margin out of 13,543 cast. State officials view Measure B as a “constraint” to meeting an allotment of 2,039 housing units for the 2008-20014 reporting period.
The 2,039 units include 460 very low income, 371 low income, 412 moderate income and 796 above moderate income. The numbers are “a planning target and not a building quota, so long as the city provides sufficient sites and does not impose constraints to development,” such as a negative Measure B vote, according to a city staff report.
Altogether, the 14 properties could be developed with 1,027 multi-family units: 641 units on six sites totaling 21.4 acres (at 30 units per acre), 141 units on two sites totaling 7.09 acres (20 units per acre) and 245 units on six sites totaling 24.52 acres (10 units per acre).
Specific sites were listed in my Sept 15 column, a May 26 Yorba Linda Star legal ad, flyers mailed to residents within 2,000 feet of a proposed site and on the city website.
Originally, the state required the city to eliminate the Measure B constraint by the June 8, 2012, primary election, but that deadline was extended to the Nov. 6 general election, due to ballot expense, estimated at up to $128,500 in June and a modest $8,500 in November.
The city will pay all election-related costs, including for the portion of the voter pamphlet listing the zone changes and “for” and “against” arguments, as well as “anticipated” costs that “would be earmarked for a Measure B education program,” stated a city staff report.
The only other Measure B election was November 2010’s Measure Z to approve 30 units per acre on the 3.2 acre former Mitsubishi Motors site at Savi Ranch, losing by 197 votes out of 26,491 cast, despite unanimous council support.
The last time voters approved a ballot measure dealing with densities was in 1972, when the low-density General Plan was put to a vote and passed by 415 votes out of 4,219 cast.
A “no” vote next year would put the city’s housing plan “out of compliance” with state law, resulting in “potential consequences,” including litigation from affordable housing advocates, court sanctions and loss of local land use authority, a city report noted.
Also on the ballot will be three council seats, with Nancy Rikel and Mark Schwing eligible to run and Jim Winder ineligible due to the city’s three-term limit. Vote to identify the 14 sites for higher densities was 3-2, Rikel and Schwing opposed.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 AM
<< Home