The Laguna Residents First ballot initiative is a comprehensive plan with benefits for residents as well as homeowners who care about their property values.
Now that is has qualified for the November ballot, a competing measure is suddenly being pushed forward. As a result of the City Council’s action April 12, a total of $110,000 will be spent to create a rival ballot measure. The three-member council majority has voted to retain a high-profile political consultant for the next four months. In essence, fighting the grassroots effort led by your neighbors to give residents the right to vote on major development projects. The city doesn’t have to collect a single signature. They just must agree that it should appear on the general election ballot alongside LRF’s.
Over 75 volunteers walked the streets explaining the LRF initiative and gathering signatures. Leadership spent countless hours and their own money to help get it on the ballot. And for many months now, the LRF website has had the entire ballot initiative—as well as frequently asked questions—up for everyone to read.
I believe residents who signed do understand the initiative because they know what’s at stake: Laguna’s small-town character and livability. The initiative’s thoughtful design offers protections against traffic impacts and parking while addressing concerns about mass, scale, height, combining lots, and cumulative effects. It only applies to future projects: new construction or intensification of existing spaces.
When people with an agenda say the LRF initiative goes “too far”, ask yourself: who stands to benefit from a counter ballot initiative?
The truth is, most projects won’t qualify for the initiative. Instead, developers would be incentivized to offer up appealing, human-scaled projects that meet requirements from the start.
This all came about because of proposed projects that residents don’t want but developers keep wanting to build, with current city leadership seemingly not enforcing codes to accommodate them.
Personally, I’ll take a resident’s initiative rather than a counter measure that benefits special interests any day of the week.
Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Dana Point have all passed similar resident-supported, smart-growth ballot initiatives. As the years go by, Laguna will be even more desirable in a sea of sameness; the LRF Ballot Initiative’s commonsense guardrails will be invaluable.
My husband and I are happy it will appear on the November ballot. We hope residents will vote yes on it.
Trish Sweeney, Laguna Beach
Agree with your statement: “When people with an agenda say the LRF initiative goes “too far”, ask yourself: who stands to benefit from a counter ballot initiative?”
Typical response when people have no facts to support their position. In fact, several leaders of other coastal cities who adopted initiatives took the time to call in to speak directly to our council members and the public when the need for an alternative initiative was discussed. All supported the LB residents initiative effort and dispelled fears of financial and escalated red tape issues. Factual experiences not self-interest opinions.
The only thing I see as going too far is our city council and staff spending our own money to confuse and undermine its residents.