SAN MARCOS –
A controversial growth-management initiative has qualified for the November ballot, but the City Council is holding off on deciding how to deal with it.
The council, which unanimously opposes the measure, could have placed it on the Nov. 4 ballot Tuesday night. Instead, it decided to conduct a study about the initiative's potential financial effects on the city.
Councilman Hal Martin asked how the initiative would affect three projects in the planning pipeline, while Councilman Mike Preston said he wanted to determine its effects on the city overall.
The initiative, called the San Marcos Growth Management and Neighborhood Protection Act, would require a public vote to change most land-use designations in the city's general plan. Changes that reduce the density of residential-zoned properties would be allowed without a vote.
The measure is similar to Escondido's Proposition S, which passed in 1998. Initiative supporters, who say San Marcos is becoming overdeveloped, collected signatures from more than 10 percent of the city's registered voters to qualify it for the November ballot.
The three projects that would be included in the council study could be affected by the retroactive language of the initiative, which calls for repealing changes in land use approved after July 23, 2007.
The projects that Martin asked to be studied are a $1 billion city and private development along the San Marcos Creek, part of the city's vision to create a downtown area; Palomar Station, condominiums above retail stores proposed near Palomar College; and a seniors affordable housing project in the Richmar neighborhood.
Whether the initiative applies to Palomar Station remains unclear. The development's general plan amendment was approved by council resolution July 10, and two related ordinances July 24, the day after the deadline.
A consultant will prepare the financial study of the initiative, said City Manager Paul Malone. The council must receive it by June 12, and will then have up to 10 days to adopt the ordinance as written or place it on the November ballot. The timing may require a special meeting of the council.
Council members criticize the ordinance as “ballot box planning,” contending the initiative would stifle development and the city's progress. On Tuesday night, Mayor Jim Desmond repeated his assertion that it would mean economic stagnation for San Marcos.
Supporters point to increasing traffic, loss of open space and a declining quality of life in the city.
Yesterday, Desmond said the council could officially declare its opposition by passing a resolution against the initiative, or create a countermeasure to place on the ballot. It could not, however, use public funds to campaign against it.
The city's cost for an election for this measure would be $12,000 to $14,000, according to the City Clerk.
Linda Lou: (760) 737-7574; linda.lou@uniontrib.com
