A slow-growth ballot measure has been proposed for Irvine, which if passed would quickly put a chill on development for Orange County’s third largest and fastest-growing city.
A pair of residents that live in the Turtle Rock area of the city, operating as Irvine for Responsible Growth, recently filed with the city a proposed initiative designed to, in their words, “give the people of Irvine control of their future.”
The initiative, filed on Aug. 21, would require that developers gain voter approval for sizable new projects in Irvine that require zoning changes or changes to the city’s general plan.
Among other considerations, projects that add more than 40 dwelling units or 10,000 square feet of new commercial development, or projects that add significant sources of traffic to the city’s roads would require voter approval before moving ahead.
The proposal largely mirrors Measure Y, a slow-growth initiative in Costa Mesa that won voter approval in November and is now in effect.
It’s the most notable antidevelopment measure approved in OC since Newport Beach’s Greenlight initiative was passed in 2000. The backers of the Irvine proposal are looking to get their measure on the ballot for the Nov. 6, 2018 election. In order to do so, they’ll need to gather signatures from more than 10% of registered voters over a six-month period.
‘Everyone Impacted’
The proposal, as expected, is not welcome news to the area’s development community.
“Obviously, it’s horrible,” said one local real estate executive, who asked not to be identified.
In addition to larger property developers, the measure would impact just about every real estate owner in the city who would like the option of converting their property to higher and better uses in the future—a fact that’s just now being realized by property owners in Costa Mesa—the real estate executive said.
“It’s not just the Irvine Company and FivePoint that would be impacted,” the source said, speaking of the city’s two largest land owners.
Newport Beach-based Irvine Co. provided a statement to the Business Journal about the proposed measure.
“Guided by the Master Plan, Irvine has evolved into a world-class city beloved for its schools, safety, open space and village lifestyle,” the statement said.
“In the coming months, those who love and respect our city will need to weigh the intended and unintended consequences of the proposed initiative that, if enacted, will override the Master Plan.”
Officials with Aliso Viejo-based FivePoint Communities Inc. said that they were still assessing the impact of the proposal, and that it was too early for them to provide a comment.
Traffic Issues
The residents heading Irvine for Responsible Growth have opposed a few specific developments over the past year, in particular the proposed expansion of Concordia University’s campus, which is close to their homes.
In their PowerPoint presentation to the council in April, Turtle Rock residents claimed trip counts in and out of Concordia’s campus are now up to 5,000 daily, 1,500 more than current zoning law allows.
Organizers of the petition were Karen Jaffe and Arthur Strauss, residents of Turtle Rock.
They have also opposed the proposed swap between the city and FivePoint for 250 acres in Irvine that would accommodate OC’s first military veterans cemetery.
In both cases, increased traffic was cited as a primary reason for opposition.
The proposed amendment to the city charter says, “Irvine’s traffic circulation is already oversaturated” and that excessive development in the city has resulted in “degradation of Irvine’s infrastructure,” among other issues.
The city’s “existing land use and development review and approval procedures do not carefully or accurately consider, nor adequately weigh, the adverse impacts to the local environment and quality of life caused by increased density and congestion resulting from major changes in allowable land use,” the proposed amendment said.
Irvine Mayor Don Wagner last week said, “I get their sentiment” regarding the traffic issues facing the city but that he believes the proposal “won’t solve the problem.”
Wagner, a Republican who was elected mayor in November, reinstituted a traffic commission this year; a portion of the five-person commission’s duties include evaluating the traffic impact of development proposals in the city.
Among other issues, the proposed measure “could put a halt on a lot of the good things (moving ahead) in Irvine right now,” Wagner said, citing planned additions to Orange County Great Park—such as a new amphitheater—among projects that could be imperiled.
“I’m not an advocate of slow growth (measures),” said Wagner.
Growth City
Irvine’s growth has been anything but slow in recent years.
The city’s population increased nearly 4% last year, and has jumped about 32% over the past decade. Irvine now has more than 267,000 residents.
Traffic issues are exacerbated by the growing influx of people that work in the city; Irvine’s daytime population is close to 600,000, and it was one of the state’s biggest sources of new jobs over the past decade.
Irvine Co.-owned land there is the largest source of new homes in the country right now, while FivePoint’s Great Park Neighborhoods is also among the 10 best-selling master-planned communities in the country, according to the latest home sales data.
Meanwhile, thousands of apartments have been added to the area near John Wayne Airport over the past decade, replacing older and obsolete office and industrial buildings.
Developers looking to turn other older commercial properties in the Irvine Business Complex into apartments and for-sale residential projects or new commercial development in the future would be among those impacted by the proposed slow-growth measure.
Irvine Co. and FivePoint, though, would appear to be the two firms with the most to lose if the measure gets approved.
In addition to housing, both firms also have active plans for commercial development.
Existing entitlements and development agreements that each firm already has for their land would appear to be safe if the measure passes and they go ahead as initially planned.
Any notable changes in development or redevelopment plans for individual sites or projects, though, would in theory put the projects under the scope of the proposed measure.
Irvine Co., for example, is looking to re-entitle the roughly 60-acre former Traveland USA site on the edge of the Irvine Spectrum area into an apartment development with up to 1,710 units.
The project, on Sand Canyon Avenue, would provide more affordable units than most of its high-end rental complexes in the area. It’s in the early stages of review with the city and would likely need to get voter sign-off; the slow-growth measure looks to apply to projects now under review.
A similar issue could face FivePoint in its efforts to swap land with the city to make way for the veterans cemetery, since that proposal has yet to be fully vetted and approved.
In Costa Mesa, litigation is taking place over whether Measure Y’s stipulation that it retroactively applies to projects approved by the city during the time the initiative first began gathering signatures to get on the ballot, and the city vote on the measure.
The slow-growth measure didn’t get much opposition from the area’s larger property owners, and easily passed with nearly 68% of the vote, about 15 months after it was proposed.
Legal challenges over similar issues also look likely to take place in Irvine if the measure gets approved.
Wagner said he isn’t sure that will occur.
“There’s a significant part of the populace that says it wants Irvine to grow, as long as it grows right.”
