contributed by YLRRR This is a rebuttal to a Facebook post by City Councilman Craig Young who is also a candidate for the 55th District Assembly seat. His article is reprinted below. Councilman Craig Young is sadly twisting the facts and slinging mud at the Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Representation in order to justify his support for developers and high-density development in the City. In a post on his Facebook page titled Eminent Domain Under a Different Name, Mr. Young attempts to equate the actions of concerned citizens and their representatives who would like to eliminate high-density sites in the City, with the eminent domain actions of a government body. Mr. Young couldnt be more off base and we would like to address each one of the points in his missive. 1. Mr. Young states that re-initiating the process to reduce densities is a fire drill. Allowing residents to vote on the opportunity to eliminate high-density affordable housing sites after they learned the State reduced the mandated numbers is not a fire drill. Its the right thing to do. The voters had the right to approve the zoning that created these mandated high-density sites and they most certainly have the right to change it. 2. Mr. Young is exaggerating the tax dollars that will be spent and unnecessarily tossing Measure H in to the debate. A ballot measure in the June 2014 primary or November 2014 general election would cost the City around $5000, not the $10K or $20K he would have you believe. For a cost estimate, read this report which discussed the costs to place Measures H & I on the ballot in February 2012: ylonline.org/export/MG80514/AS80547/AI80574/DO80633/DO_80633.pdf . Additionally, YLRRR is not proposing or supporting to amend Measure H, which rezoned a portion of SAVI Ranch to build high-density housing there. YLRRR is only proposing and supporting to amend Measure I, which would eliminate high-density sites or lower the densities on specific sites that are all clustered on the west side of Yorba Linda. The entitlements were approved for the National Core project in SAVI Ranch and an amendment to Measure H would not even be feasible. 3. Mr. Youngs knowledge of the Housing Element and math are a little fuzzy, as well as his interpretation of calling high-density developers our neighbors and concluding their property rights are being taken away. His calculation that we would be removing 1370 units from the 2039 zoned in Measures H & I is either an exaggeration or proof that he didnt read the City staff report prepared for the 2014 Housing Element. That report stated there was a buffer of 632 units, not 1370. The 2014 Housing Element report can be found here: ylonline.org/questys.cmx.webclient/Publish/PublishedFiles.aspx?RecordId=649760. So, any amendments to Measure I would deal with eliminating 632 or fewer units from the zoning, not 1370 as Mr. Young reports. Apparently, Mr. Young believes that high-density developers, who are nonresident-temporary property owners and here to make a profit, have property rights that are superior to residents who own property in Yorba Linda for the quality of life and are here for the long term. Additionally, Mr. Young fails to discuss the rights of those property owners who did not ask to have their properties rezoned for high-density housing, like the owner of the nursery property near Bastanchury and Plumosa. If Mr. Young feels so strongly about the government taking property, he should immediately support removal of this site that is zoned for high-density housing at 30 units on around 5 acres. The nursery property addition to the Housing Element was a choice made strictly by the City and the State, not the property owner. Mr. Young is an attorney who specializes in development and real estate. He is a principle at The Lincoln Partners and information about the firm can be found here: thelincolnpartners. Its pretty clear Mr. Young has easy access to information about litigation regarding downzoning and what are called takings cases. Thats where a developer or property owner sues alleging that the downzoning of their property resulted in a government taking of their property. Just a little online research will prove that Mr. Young is blowing smoke. You can find out for yourself at this link: californiaeminentdomainreport/2011/11/articles/inverse-condemnationregulatory/what-is-downzoning-and-when-is-it-compensable/ from the California Eminent Domain Report. In a nutshell it says a taking would occur if the new zoning would be a loss of substantially all economically viable uses and the owner has done substantial work or has spent large sums of money in obtaining a development permit. 4. Mr. Youngs conclusions that property owners of 14 sites will file a lawsuit, that the City will spend tens of thousands for two initiatives (see #2 above) and that we will pay millions to property owners (see #3) is just flat out fabrication and political and campaign rhetoric. The only thing missing is that the sky is falling. After all, Mr. Young represents developer and real estate interests as an attorney and he is running for the 55th District Assembly seat. You should follow the money and see who is contributing to his Assembly campaign. You can follow the money here: cal-access.ss.ca.gov/Campaign/Candidates/ on the Secretary of States web site. In conclusion, Mr. Youngs not so brilliant and poorly researched missive grossly exaggerates the effects of amending Measure I. He tosses out a lot of figures, makes a lot of assumptions and draws a lot of conclusions, but provides no evidence to support his figures, assumptions and conclusions. Yorba Linda residents are passionate about their quality of life and we believe wholeheartedly they will support amending Measure I to reduce high-density housing and they will kindly remind Councilman Young who he works for in the Land of Gracious Living. Thank you for your continued support. Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Representation ylrrr.org Facebook/YLRRR (714)262-4174
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 08:36:04 +0000
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