ARCADIA MEASURE ON MANSIONIZATION QUALIFIES FOR BALLOT

Arcadia Measure On Mansionization Qualifies For Ballot

By Courtney Tompkins, The Pasadena Star-News

POSTED: 03/31/16, 4:33 PM PDT | UPDATED: 2 HRS AGO

ARCADIA >> Home size may ultimately come down to a vote of the people after a resident-backed initiative targeting mansionization cleared signature verification with the county this week.

The count came down to the wire, ­though, as the initiative qualified with only one more signature than the required 2,909, which represents 10 percent of the city’s registered voters.

If adopted, the initiative would create a citywide floor area ratio (FAR), which would set much tighter restrictions on square footage.

City Clerk Lisa Mussenden said the measure could come before voters as soon as November, along with state and national elections, or as far out as April 2018, with the next municipal election.The city could also opt to hold a special election, but that would cost taxpayers upwards of $100,000, she said.

Saving Arcadia, a local group behind the initiative, began drafting it in July in an attempt to address unrest in the community over mansionization, which is commonly defined as the practice of demolishing smaller, older houses and replacing them with new ones that occupy the maximum amount of lot space possible.

The idea came after a controversial City Council vote — made by Roger Chandler, Sho Tay and John Wuo — that halted a citywide zoning code update and historic preservation survey.The vote prompted threats of recall against the trio as residents said they felt the elected officials suspended the study as an act of retaliation over a pending lawsuit some residents filed against the city.The lawsuit, which targeted the cumulative impacts of mansionization, has since been settled.

Saving Arcadia spokesman David Arvizu said the group is glad to be over the first big hurdle, but he said they are concerned the city could keep the initiative from going to the voters for two years.“I would be very disappointed if the city tried to stall this out by making excuses and delaying the process in which the residents of Arcadia can decide about what they want to do about their city zoning codes,” he said.

But city officials are concerned that a ballot initiative is not the way to address and some say it could hurt home values.

“The initiative would have to have some effect on property values and it has to have a substantial effect on resale values,” Councilman Mickey Segal said.

Councilman Tom Beck echoed Segal’s sentiments, calling it “much more restrictive” than what’s on the table for passage on Tuesday.

The city is days away from holding a public hearing on several recommended updates to its residential development standards, including adopting a sliding scale FAR that varies based on neighborhood and lot size.“What’s in front of us now to approve is a perfect definition of a middle ground,” Segal said.

Proponents of the ballot initiative include representatives of three homeowners’ associations in northern Arcadia: April Verlato, Laurie Thompson and Richard Midgley.Verlato, a candidate for City Council, has withdrawn herself from the group during the election but said she still supports its efforts.

Beck said there is still a chance the proponents will be content with the development standards the council adopts and may choose to withdraw the initiative.

But Verlato said it’s still too early to make that determination.

“We will need to see what happens with the zoning code recommendations and this election,” she said. Mussenden said the initiative will likely go before the City Council at one of the next two meetings, on Tuesday or April 19.

The council still needs to accept the signature certification from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder and then make some decisions regarding it, including whether they want to adopt the ordinance as is or conduct a study on the anticipated impacts and place it on a future ballot.