Fail: 18,439 / 44.43% Yes votes ...... 23,061 / 55.57% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Impartial Analysis from the City Attorney

This measure would amend the Land Use Element of the City’s General Plan by adding an annual limit on “commercial development” of 75,000 square feet of “floor area.” The measure would be in effect until 2023, unless the voters amended or repealed it sooner.

The limit would apply to classes of commercial projects requiring Planning Commission or City Council approval on 1/16/08. It would not apply to projects qualified for administrative approval on that date. Nor would it apply to uses excluded from the measure’s definition of “commercial.” Excluded uses are: residential, parking, schools, child or adult day care, hospitals, convalescent facilities, residential care for the elderly, places of worship, government, and neighborhood-serving uses located on the ground floor of 100% affordable housing projects. The measure incorporates the Municipal Code definition of “floor area” effective on 1/16/08.

The measure would authorize exceeding the annual limit by borrowing square footage from up to four years in the future, so long as the annual average for each five-year period did not exceed 75,000 square feet. The first five year period would begin 1/1/08. After that, there would be a “rolling” limit applicable to all five year periods. The square footage of development approved but not built would be added back into the annual limit upon expiration of the approval.

The limit would not apply to any project that had a vested right pursuant to state or local law on the measure’s effective date. For instance, the limit would not apply to any project permitted and under construction on that date. Nor would it apply to a project if the Council found by a 6/7 vote that applying the limit would cause an unconstitutional “taking” of the property, unavoidable by borrowing from future years. The Council could seek voter approval of commercial development exceeding the limit.

How the limit would apply to replacement or remodel projects would depend upon an analysis of anticipated traffic impacts. A project replacing or remodeling an existing building would receive a credit for some or all of the existing building’s floor area. This credit would be calculated by comparing estimates of vehicle trips generated by the new building with those of the original building. If the new building would generate the same or fewer trips per square foot, then the limit would be applied after subtracting the entire square footage of the original building from the square footage of the new building. If the new building would generate more trips per square foot than the original building, a methodology specified by the measure would be used to determine the credit for existing floor area. The traffic impact calculations would be based on data from the Institute of Traffic Engineers or a “comparable source” used by cities of Santa Monica’s size.

Implementation of the measure would require amending existing land use regulations and establishing a system for allocating commercial development rights. Certain provisions of the measure would require legal or judicial interpretation.

Arguments Submitted

Full Text of Argument In Favor, Rebuttal

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City of Santa Monica

• Election Website

Ballotpedia

The LookOut News

• Major Developers Bankroll Prop T Opposition - 10/9/08, by Jorge Casuso
• Joint Statement Concerning Prop T [from UCLA and St. John's Hospitals] - 10/2/08
• Anti-Development Initiative Headed for Ballot - 5/20/08, by Jorge Casuso