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El Dorado County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
Measure Y
Shall the current Meas. Y be amended and extended for ten years?
El Dorado County
Amendment to the 2004 El Dorado County General Plan - Majority Approval Required

Pass: 48333 / 71.47% Yes votes ...... 19293 / 28.53% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures
Results as of Nov 5 12:56am, 100.0% of Precincts Reporting (150/150)
60.7% Voter Turnout (67626/111325)
Information shown below: Impartial Analysis | Arguments | Full Text

Shall the voter-enacted Measure Y General Plan policies be extended ten years and amended to provide: (1) Traffic from major single-family residential subdivisions shall not result in, or worsen, Level of Service F (gridlock) traffic congestion; (2) No additional county roadways may operate at Level of Service F without voter approval or 4/5ths vote of County Supervisors; (3) Developer-paid traffic fees, combined with any other funding source, shall pay to build necessary road improvements?

Impartial Analysis from the County Counsel
This measure, if adopted by a majority vote, would amend the original Measure Y policies and, as amended, extend them for ten years. The policies cannot be further amended or repealed except by a vote of the people.

In 1998, the voters enacted the "Control Traffic Congestion Initiative" (Measure Y), which added five policies to the 1996 General Plan. They included: (1) a prohibition of residential development projects of five or more units causing, or worsening, Level of Service (LOS) F traffic congestion during weekday, peak-hour periods; (2) a prohibition against adding roads to the list of roads allowed to operate at LOS F without voter approval; (3) a requirement that developers pay fees to mitigate traffic impacts of new development; and, (4) a prohibition against county tax revenues being used to mitigate such impacts without voter approval. Measure Y stated that the policies would remain in effect for ten years. It provided that they should be placed on the ballot prior to expiration for the voters to decide on a 10 year extension.

In 1999, the court invalidated the 1996 General Plan. In readopting a general plan in 2004, the Board of Supervisors incorporated the Measure Y policies, which were to remain in effect until 2008. They included alternative policies to take effect upon their expiration. But, it remains unclear whether Measure Y itself, including its provision to place it back on the ballot, remains legally enforceable. However, the Board of Supervisors decided to put the policies on the ballot for an extension, with certain modifications.

The amendments to the Measure Y policies made by this measure include: (1) clarification that the prohibition against residential projects of five or more units causing or worsening LOS F applies only to single-family subdivisions; (2) a provision that a road may be added to the list of roadways which can operate LOS F by a vote of the people or by a 4/5 vote of the Board of Supervisors; (3) clarification that non-tax sources of revenue such as federal and state grants can be used to fund road projects to serve new development; and, (4) deletion of the prohibition against using county tax revenues to fund road projects to serve new development. The amended policies still require that developer fees, together with other revenue sources, fully pay to mitigate the traffic impacts of new development.

If this measure fails, the alternative policies will go into effect. They could be amended by the Board of Supervisors at their discretion. The alternative policies generally follow the Measure Y policies, but include: (1) extension of the prohibition against causing or worsening LOS F to all residential projects (less than five units); (2) clarification that non-tax sources of revenue such as federal and state grants can be used to fund road projects to serve new development; and, (3) a provision that road segments can be added to the list of roads allowed to operate at LOS F by a 3/5 vote of the Board.

Louis B. Green - El Dorado County Counsel

  
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Arguments For Measure Y Arguments Against Measure Y
To control traffic congestion, El Dorado County voters approved the original Measure Y in 1998 with 61% of the vote. Since then, the measure has been working to control congestion by requiring developers to pay for the road improvements needed to keep traffic flowing. Today's Measure Y simply extends the original Measure Y for another ten years as follows:
  • Prohibits approval of any new single-family housing subdivision of five or more parcels if the development creates or worsens traffic congestion (known as "Level of Service F" gridlock).
  • Prohibits "Level of Service F" gridlock on any additional county roads, unless approved by voters or a four-fifths vote of our county supervisors.
  • Requires developers to pay for any road improvements that are needed to prevent new traffic from causing gridlock or exceeding acceptable traffic levels.

Measure Y is endorsed by local business, agriculture, slow-growth, taxpayer and environmental advocates, along with the El Dorado County Republican and Democratic Parties, the Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters. All agree Measure Y will control traffic and protect our rural quality of life, while encouraging jobs creation and balanced economic growth. Police and firefighters support Measure Y because it will help prevent gridlock on our county roads during emergencies.

The original Measure Y has been working effectively for the past ten years. Your "YES" vote on today's Measure Y will keep these successful policies working for the next ten years to prevent traffic gridlock, protect our rural environment and require new development to pay its fair share for new roads.

Vote YES on Measure Y.

Michael Kobus - President, El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce; Jack Sweeney - District 3 Supervisor -- County of El Dorado; Bill Center - Author, Original Measure Y; John Stelzmiller - Chair, El Dorado County Republican Central Committee; Rich Meagher - Chair, El Dorado County Democratic Central Committee

No Argument Against This Measure Was Submitted

Full Text of Measure Y
Shall Policy TC-Xa of the 2004 El Dorado County General Plan be amended to read as follows and, as amended, be extended for a period of ten years? Policy TC-Xa The following policies shall remain in effect until December 31, 2018:
1. Traffic from single family residential subdivision development projects of five or more units or parcels of land shall not result in, or worsen, Level of Service F (gridlock, stop-and-go) traffic congestion during weekday, peak-hour periods on any highway, road, interchange or intersection in the unincorporated areas of the county.
2. The County shall not add any additional segments of U.S. Highway 50, or any other highways and roads, to the County's list of roads (shown in Table TC-2) that are allowed to operate at Level of Service F without first getting the voters' approval or by a 4/5ths vote of the Board of Supervisors.
3. Developer-paid traffic impact fees combined with any other available funds shall fully pay for building all necessary road capacity improvements to fully offset and mitigate all direct and cumulative traffic impacts from new development upon any highways, arterial roads and their intersections during weekday, peak-hour periods in unincorporated areas of the county.
4. County tax revenues shall not be used in any way to pay for building road capacity improvements to offset traffic impacts from new development projects. Exceptions are allowed if county voters first give their approval.
5. Before giving approval of any kind to a residential development project of five or more units or parcels of land, the County shall make a finding that the project complies with the policies above. If this finding cannot be made, then the County shall not approve the project in order to protect the public's health and safety as provided by state law to assure that safe and adequate roads and highways are in place as such development occurs.

If approved by the voters on November 4, 2008, this amended policy TC-Xa shall become effective on January 1, 2009, and shall expire in ten years. It may only be amended with voter approval during that term.

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Created: January 24, 2009 10:32 PST
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