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YLRRR Responds to OC Register Editorial on
Right-To-Vote Initiative
Reader Rebuttal: Land use in Yorba
Linda
The Orange County Register - September 4, 2005
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James Horton
THE YORBA LINDA RESIDENT IS MEMBER OF THE YORBA LINDA RESIDENTS FOR RESPONSIBLE
REDEVELOPMENT AND A CO-SPONSOR OF THE YORBA LINDA RIGHT TO VOTE ON LAND
USE AMENDMENTS INITIATIVE
As a 25-year resident of Yorba Linda, a co-sponsor of the
Yorba Linda Right to Vote on Land Use Amendments Initiative,
a business owner under the threat of eminent domain (in El
Monte) and a 25-year Register subscriber, I felt compelled
to respond to the Register editorial on the initiative
["Yorba
Linda activists: right intent, wrong fix," Aug. 26 -
Registration Required].
Thousands of Yorba Linda residents sincerely believe the
initiative is the "right intent" and the"right
fix," which will appropriately preserve the true nature,
character and quality of life in Yorba Linda. Yorba Linda
is a suburban, not an urban community. It is a predominantly
single-family residential community of well-planned, low-density
neighborhoods, where residents enjoy great schools, parks
and recreation, as well as low congestion and one of the
county's lowest crime rates. This initiative will preserve
Yorba Linda.
Property rights are not absolute. Property owners - public
or private - may not develop their property in whatever manner
they desire whenever they wish. Each must comply with their
respective communities' general plan, zoning laws and various
building codes, etc. The Yorba Linda Right to Vote Amendment
simply insures that no "major change" can be made
to our general plan or zoning laws without a vote of the
residents.
This initiative in no way will stop future development in
Yorba Linda as suggested by the editorial. It will prevent
politicians and developers from changing land use and zoning
laws in a way that would permit overdevelopment and high-density
housing.
Second, Yorba Linda residents had no choice but to use the
ballot measure on zoning. The city's eminent domain powers,
the expanded redevelopment area and proposed high-density
affordable housing units in our downtown are all supported
by state redevelopment laws, which ban citizen referendum
as to redevelopment activities. The referendum response proposed
in your editorial does not exist. There is no voter right
to amend or repeal a redevelopment plan by referendum after
the project area is selected. The use of eminent domain by
City Hall insiders is immune to referendum as well. State
redevelopment law is designed to exclude voters from redevelopment
decisions.
Our politicians and bureaucrats are captives of mega-developers
seeking public funding and entitlements. They share the same
political consultants and the same "high-density" goals.
And they have not relinquished their eminent domain authority
and their power to destroy the private investments in homes
and local businesses. The owners of these homes and businesses
are not faceless outsiders. They are friends, neighbors and
members of our community. The only way to protect our neighborhoods
and local businesses in Yorba Linda from eminent domain is
to limit the re-zoning power of those bureaucrats and politicians.
The Right to Vote Initiative is the "right fix" for
residents and businesses in the "The Land of Gracious
Living."
Copyright 2005 The Orange County Register
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