I\u2019ve decided to vote no on Measure V.\u00a0 And here are some of my thoughts as to why I came to that decision.<\/p>\n
I think there are too many flaws in the initiative, too many angles that have not been thought through.\u00a0 Ambiguities.\u00a0 Things that could be interpreted in more than one way.\u00a0 So we end up in litigation to find the answer.\u00a0\u00a0 We end up using the City\u2019s minimal reserves fighting lawsuits, and the attorneys get richer.\u00a0 Then, what if new sources of revenue are found, say the state decides not to use the money it\u2019s been pulling from the City for one reason or another, and the City gets some money in.\u00a0 Do we get to use that money to increase what we pay our cops?\u00a0 To bring the library up to seismic standards?\u00a0 To re-open the pool year round?\u00a0 No, it\u2019s going to have to go back into the reserves, because we\u2019re too busy depleting them fighting about ambiguities in legislation that should never have passed.\u00a0 Sierra Madre can\u2019t afford Measure V.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t want higher density projects such as senior or low income housing to be built in our residential neighborhoods.\u00a0 If Measure V passes, higher density projects such as low income or senior housing will be prohibited in the downtown area.\u00a0 So they would be built in our residential neighborhoods.\u00a0 Do you want a new condo complex next door to your house?\u00a0 To me, building senior housing in these areas doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense.\u00a0 The downtown area is where seniors would want to live, so that if they get to a point where they no longer feel comfortable driving, they can just walk to the Post Office, walk to the coffee shops, walk to the restaurants, the dentist, their doctor, the library.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another reason is property rights.\u00a0 I think that the people that own property downtown should, within reason, be able to build on their property a structure or structures that can appreciate in value over time, and earn them some money as it does.\u00a0 That\u2019s kind of the intent of commercial property.\u00a0 But if the restrictions on building that are put in place are too severe, they aren\u2019t going to be able to do that.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take the property that\u2019s in front of the Mariposa parking lot for instance.\u00a0 This area is on a slope.\u00a0 Now, why shouldn\u2019t these property owners be able to put up two stories at the street level to conduct business, and utilize the slope to put another story underground to provide additional parking?\u00a0 Measure V prohibits that, unless the City and the building owner bring the project before the people in an election, because Measure V defines that type of structure as a 3-story structure, and it does not allow anything more than two.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t believe that property values are going to fall because Measure V doesn\u2019t pass.\u00a0 Some of the people who back the initiative will tell you that the only way to maintain our property values is to pass Measure V.\u00a0 In the same breath, they will tell you that the money-hungry realtors are trying to stop Measure V.\u00a0 Guess what?\u00a0 If property values go down, realtors make less money.\u00a0\u00a0 If Measure V is going to help us maintain property values, wouldn\u2019t the realtors be backing it?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not as scared of mixed use as some people in this town seem to be.\u00a0 Many of the proponents of Measure V say they want to retain the 19th century charm of our downtown area.\u00a0 Well, the way I understand it, in the old days, it was not uncommon for a store owner to live in the space above their store.\u00a0 Mixed use properties have been around for a long time.\u00a0 Seems to me that while it may not be the actual store owner living above the store, we\u2019d still be practicing the same principal of dwellings over commercial.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think Joe Q. Public is equipped to be in charge of land use issues for the entire downtown area.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think most people had any idea what 13 units per acre was until a few months ago.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think most of them still have any idea what floor area ratios are.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think most of them understand about grading, or surveying, or even common things like setbacks.\u00a0 What do you know about traffic flow?\u00a0 What are the different ratings of firewalls needed in kitchens, and are they dependent on the equipment being used?\u00a0\u00a0 How about a kitchen that has excess water flowing because there are multiple dishwashers in use?\u00a0 What size drain pipe is required?\u00a0 Are we voters qualified to review projects and determine that they meet the necessary land use standards?\u00a0 And yet, if Measure V passes, any project in the downtown area that exceeds the 2-30-13 restrictions is going to be reviewed and approved or denied by the residents of this town.\u00a0 I have to say, I\u2019ve seen more than a few people in this town upon whose intellect I would not want my project to be dependent.<\/p>\n
The elections remove any negotiation with the builder.\u00a0 Recently, at the top of Baldwin, the City Council approved a project, but placed more than 180 conditions on the builder, in order for the project to be approved.\u00a0 Suppose there was a project proposed that was beneficial to the City, and we liked everything about the project, but there was a large, unsightly air conditioning unit located along side the building.\u00a0 In an election, we either say yea or nay.\u00a0 We don\u2019t get to say yea, so long as you put up plants to cover the unsightly a\/c unit alongside the structure, or move the a\/c on the roof, or behind the building.\u00a0 So we either say yea, and get an unsightly a\/c unit, or we say nay, and turn down a project whose only drawback was that it needed some plants.\u00a0 Maybe kind of an extreme hypothetical, and for all I know, there may be land use ordinances in place that prevent that from happening.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 But that\u2019s kind of my point number 6.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know the land use laws, so I shouldn\u2019t be making decisions that affect other people\u2019s lives and livelihoods by approving or denying their projects with my uneducated vote.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think all development is bad.\u00a0 There, I\u2019ve said it.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think all development is bad.\u00a0 I do think overdevelopment is bad.\u00a0 I think wrong development is bad.\u00a0 But I think there is such a thing as responsible development.\u00a0 And I trust our planning commission, the city council, and the people of Sierra Madre to work within our current system to ensure that responsible development is the only kind of development that takes place downtown.\u00a0 I include the people of Sierra Madre in that equation, because Sierra Madreans have shown time and again that they will turn out in force to stop ideas they don\u2019t agree with.\u00a0 A drive-through at the corner of Auburn and Sierra Madre.\u00a0 A high school at the top of Baldwin.\u00a0 But they did it at planning commission meetings and city council meetings, not at an election.\u00a0 Using our existing system.<\/p>\n
We have a system in place that\u2019s celebrating its 100th year.\u00a0 We elect representatives to handle things like land use issues.\u00a0 If you decide you don\u2019t trust the people you put in place, you vote them out at the next election.\u00a0 You don\u2019t just scuttle the system that\u2019s worked for a century.\u00a0 I trust our council members to do what they think is best for our City.\u00a0 I may not agree with what they think is right, but I trust that they believe they are doing the right thing.\u00a0 And so, I think you do your best to convince 3 of the 5 to handle things until that next election takes place.\u00a0 What you don\u2019t do is pass laws that change the entire way the City operates, setting the City up for major financial problems and lawsuits.
\nThese are just some of the reasons.\u00a0 Tune in next week, when I\u2019ll tell you a few more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve decided to vote no on Measure V.\u00a0 And here are some of my thoughts as to why I came to that decision. I think there are too many flaws in the initiative, too many…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[53,65],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sierramadrenews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}