San Diego Residents Could Vote to Expand Ballot Box Planning Powers

Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts report on the politics behind two controversial ballot initiatives that will shape how rural and sprawling developments get approved in San Diego County.

The occasion for the article is a recent decision by the San Diego County Democratic Party to oppose Measure A, an "initiative that would force most housing projects that require special changes to the general plan of the county to get support from voters countywide."

Measure A is portrayed as an anti-sprawl measure, but Will Rodriguez-Kennedy, the party chair, issued a statement that didn't oppose this kind of ballot box planning as a procedural misstep, arguing instead that Measure A would make it harder to build needed housing in San Diego County. "And with that, we saw the head of the Democratic Party seemingly endorse what many of his Democratic counterparts call sprawl," according to the article.

The second ballot initiative, Measure B, would overturn the approval of the 2,135-home Newland Sierra project, to be built north of Escondido. According to the article, the Democratic Party decided to oppose that project, potentially contradicting the party's position on Measure A, according to the article.