... Since a group of local residents known collectively as Save El Pueblo Viejo (SEPV) gathered thousands of signatures and qualified their initiative for the November ballot, the city has been looking into a series of options to address the matter on its own.
If approved, the citizen initiative would lower building height limits to 40 feet in the city’s historic district and 45 feet in other commercial areas where the limit is currently 60 feet.
The latest strategy presented to the City Council’s ordinance committee was a supplemental ballot measure to accompany the SEPV initiative that would allow building projects to exceed the new limits if they are deemed a community priority.
However, two members of the committee recommended that the city move forward with its own charter amendment lowering building height limits and addressing other issues such as open space and affordable housing.
“I’m very concerned with the oversimplification of this issue,” Councilmember Grant House said. “…I don’t believe that the supplemental ballot approach can reap the benefits that a separate ballot alternative could.”
Councilmember Dale Francisco abstained from much of the discussion, explaining that he didn’t feel the city should be involved in essentially undermining a citizen-led effort to address concerns about bulky and tall buildings.
“The Save El Pueblo Viejo initiative is quite clear,” he said. “A simple up or down vote on that is all that’s necessary.”
... Bill Mahan, one of the creators of the SEPV initiative, evoked memories of a March 25, 1969 vote by the City Council to approve two nine-story condominium towers at the site of what is now Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens.
The citizens fought back with a charter amendment to restrict building heights to their current limits, he said.
“What is your legacy going to be?” Mahan said. “That city council, nobody can remember their names anymore, but we all remember what they did. Please, please don’t do this. Don’t do this. It will be a terrible legacy for you.”
Cathy McCammon also reflected on the circumstances leading to the city’s current building height limits.
“The original height limit amendment was put into the charter because people at that time did not want the city council to have the power to change the ordinance,” she said. “The same is true today.”
Lisa Plowman, planning manager for Peikert Group Architects and a former county planner, countered those statements by calling on the city to move forward with a charter amendment of its own to offer a choice to voters.
“It’s a sad thing to me that this initiative has hijacked the General Plan process,” she said, referring to an extensive overhaul of the city’s guiding principles currently underway. “I don’t think ballot-box planning is a good idea, but here we are.”
... Councilmember Das Williams addressed some of the criticism directed at city leaders.
“I really, really feel like the tone of this debate has gotten to a point of ridiculous proportions,” he said. “When we are being threatened with ignominy and obscurity for supporting what is the current status quo … I just think it’s a little insulting.”
He said the citizen-led initiative is aimed at addressing a serious community concern, but goes about it in an “overly simple” way.
“At least a supplemental [ballot measure] would not, to me, be fairly criticized as potentially killing the original ballot measure, although that seems to be what it’s being tarred with anyway,” Williams said.
Despite leaning toward the supplemental ballot measure approach, the councilmember eventually agreed with House to recommend that the council pursue its own charter amendment.
The topic should come up for discussion before the full council on March 24.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comment!