California Real Estate Developers Go to the Ballot Box

The SF Gate reports:

Developers won two of four ballot initiatives they pushed to expand growth boundaries in eastern Alameda and Contra Costa counties, and those on both side of the issue said the campaign's relative success would lead to more "ballot box planning" that cuts local authorities out of the process by placing proposals before voters.

Although such tactics have been used with only moderate success since the early 1990s, developers and politicians alike said Wednesday that that believed the Bay Area's go-go housing market and incessant need for new homes had created a more favorable climate for the tactic. Environmentalists fear the success of the two measures in Contra Costa County may spur similar efforts in the North Bay and in booming areas of the Central Valley.

"This election cycle is the beginning of a long-term trend where I think developers are going to put their measures on the ballot," said Sam Singer, spokesman for the Yes on P campaign, which persuaded voters in Pittsburg to expand the city's growth boundary so Albert Seeno III could build 1,700 homes. "This is a fundamental strategic shift in real estate development."

In a nutshell, the four measures on Tuesday's ballot called for expanding the existing growth boundaries in four communities, allowing developers to build on land previously protected by local and county ordinances as open space or farm land.

Pittsburg's Measure P passed with 51.6 percent of the vote, and voters in Antioch supported Measure K with 59 percent of the vote. But those victories for developers were offset by the failures of Measure L in Brentwood and Measure D in Livermore.

Despite those two setbacks, Singer said taking proposals directly to voters effectively bypassed planning commissions and elected officials who might oppose the developments, and also allowed developers to respond more forcefully to criticism to their projects.

"Developers are no longer willing to ... be on the defensive and let opponents define the debate," Singer said. "Developers are saying 'I'm going to tell my own story.' "

Elected officials bemoan the tactic, even as they concede it will become increasingly common.

Who says they don't make more land? Supply can increase when land-use restrictions and others who want to restrict supply lose their way.