Groups pro, con ready campaigns on restrictions to new home sizes
by San Diego Union-Tribune
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Publication: San Diego Union-Tribune, © 2007
Date published: February 1, 2007
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By Angela Lau
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 1, 2007
SOLANA BEACH – Supporters and opponents of a March 6 ballot measure that proposes to limit the size of new homes are just now beginning to spend money on their campaigns.
But don't be misled by the relative peace. A protracted fight is promised.
Proposition A, the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance, seeks to limit the size of new homes in six areas west of Interstate 5 to combat a trend toward the construction of homes considered too big for their lot sizes.
The proposed ordinance would affect 1,200 homes. It offended so many homeowners when the City Council enacted it as law in September that a group of citizens successfully mounted a campaign to put the ordinance on the March 6 ballot. Its action shelved the ordinance until voters take a position.
According to semiannual campaign finance disclosure statements filed yesterday at City Hall, only Proposition A supporters had coalesced under a committee, called Save Old Solana, which predated the fight over the ordinance.
Save Old Solana did not raise any money during the reporting period, which covered the last half of 2006, but had about $5,000 in the bank. It spent $1,600 on lawyers' fees.
Save Old Solana's Chief Executive Officer and Treasurer David Zito did not return telephone calls yesterday to explain the legal spending, but the group sued Proposition A opponents in December to try to throw out the heart of the opposition's ballot argument. The supporters lost.
The main opposition group is the newly formed Unite Solana, chaired by Solana Beach attorney Dan Chambers, which is just beginning to raise money, its leaders said. One of its 10 core members is Louise Abbott, a Realtor and property rights advocate.
Even as Abbott fights the Proposition A battle, she appears to be planning a sequel. According to the disclosure forms, she raised $6,800 last year for a group she founded, Real Property Rights, to launch the Solana Beach Voter Rights Initiative at a later date.
That proposed initiative would require the city to seek voter approval for every change to its zoning and development regulations that affect property values.
Her contributors include Jere Horsley and Marc Lair, Solana Beach residents who gave $2,000 and $1,000 respectively.
Angela Lau: (760) 476-8240; angela.lau@uniontrib.com |
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