City Council candidates divided on Measure Z

Grass Valley’s six City Council candidates are split on Measure Z, an initiative on the Nov. 4 ballot that seeks to limit growth in the city.

Three of the six will be elected Nov. 4.

Incumbents Janet Arbuckle and Lisa Swarthout and council hopeful Yolanda Cookson said they were against the measure at a candidate forum in Grass Valley Wednesday, hosted by the League of Women Voters.

Arbuckle and Swarthout said the measure would bring ballot box planning, while Cookson said it has caused an unfortunate divide in city politics.

Favoring Measure Z are Terry Lamphier, Rachel Rue and Ed Yarborough, saying it would bring greater democracy to the growth planning process.

Measure Z, the Managed Growth Initiative, was brought to the ballot by Citizens Concerned About Traffic and the Rural Quality Coalition.

It would lock into place the city’s 2020 General Plan until 2038. Most developments proposing a use for a property that is more intensive than what the plan’s land-use map allows would have to go to the ballot for public approval.

One recent example of a project that would have required public approval under Measure Z is the BriarPatch Market: The area is zoned for offices, but an exception was made for a retail business that draws higher traffic.

A second example is Wolf Creek Cohousing, which has more homes than the original zoning outlined.

Examples of future projects are the proposed reopening of the Idaho-Maryland Mine and the Loma Rica Ranch mixed-use development.

(Measure Y, or the Limited Growth Initiative, has been offered as an alternative by Mayor Mark Johnson and others. It did not come up at the forum, but will be the subject of another story in The Union in the near future.)

Candidate Lamphier said he signed the petition to put Measure Z to a vote because average citizens need to use the ballot box for change.

“I was one that went before the council and was continually ignored” about growth issues, Lamphier said. His complaint was similar to that of CCAT’s Grant Cattaneo, who has said the council’s indifference to his growth concerns partially spurred him to offer Measure Z to voters.

“I believe in our system of representative government,” Arbuckle said. Doing an end run around the city’s Planning Commission and City Council that now make decisions on projects and growth “clearly shows no confidence in the representative process,” she said.

Arbuckle also feared developers could influence project elections with their money.

“I like Measure Z because I believe in direct democracy,” Yarborough said, adding that he did not think small projects would come to a vote if Measure Z passes.

“I’m opposed to Measure Z. Ballot measures have unintended consequences; some are financial,” Swarthout said. “I’m against ballot box planning.”

Vice Mayor Swarthout said a local nonprofit is planning to build on property that needs a general plan change, and the group would be hard-pressed to find the money to pay for an election to get it.

“I’m in favor of Measure Z,” said Rachel Rue, saying general plan land-use changes should come to a vote. “The council voted against Z and Y, but the citizens put them on the ballot. I don’t believe every issue will be voted on,” Rue said.

“I’m against Measure Z,” Yolanda Cookson said, adding that it has brought unneeded controversy and quashed public discussion of growth. “The proponents should have run for City Council.”

To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.