Growing Pains : Builders Vow ‘Tough Fight’ Against Curbs in Pasadena

PASADENA —  Developers have begun mobilizing to defeat a sweeping slow-growth initiative they say would jeopardize such major projects as the Huntington Hotel, Rose Townhomes and the Pasadena Marketplace.

Just two days after the initiative qualified for the June 7 ballot, developers of those and other projects agreed to band together to fight the measure.

The coalition of developers has committed itself to help fund the potentially costly campaign against the initiative and has hired a public relations consultant and a Los Angeles campaign strategy firm to coordinate the drive.

The Chamber of Commerce also has called on a wide range of business people to join the fray.

“Meetings are going on all over town,” said Nat Read, the public relations consultant hired to oversee the opposition to the initiative. “It’s going to be a tough battle” that could cost more than $100,000, he said.

Despite such concern, city officials say they are unsure how many projects that have already been approved or are now in the approval process would be stopped if the initiative passes.

“We just really don’t know what would happen,” said city Planning Director Don Nollar. “All these matters of interpretation are going to have to wait until we analyze it.”

Christopher Sutton, the attorney who drafted the initiative, said the developers are waging a “hysterical” campaign against it.

“Their strategy is knee-jerk,” he said. “They’re overreacting to create a climate of fear and emotionalism.”

Sutton said the initiative “provides a safety valve” by allowing the city Board of Directors to approve a development or waive any fees if there is unanimous support for such an action.

But developers fear that the initiative would stop all major developments that have not received building permits by the election, including the YMCA and YWCA expansion, the Huntington Hotel, the Rose Townhomes and even the city’s plan to build a new police station in the Civic Center area.

Although some projects might be granted building permits before June 7, many, such as the 250,000-square-foot Marketplace mall in Old Pasadena, are months away from even applying for permits.

“We’ve spent millions in development,” said Bruce Phillips, executive director of the Marketplace. “The project cannot stand a two-year wait. It would be dead.”

“This will have a profound impact,” agreed Lary Mielke, a partner in the $40-million plan to rebuild the Huntington Hotel. “The City of Pasadena could face millions in losses, not only in lost construction but possibly in litigation.”

H. Scott Howell, vice president of Calmark Development Corp., developer of the Rose Townhomes, said it’s possible that the necessary permits can be obtained before the election. “It’s not an easy task,” he said.

The measure, called the “Responsible Growth” initiative, was a companion to a referendum petition intended to stop construction of the 184-unit Rose Townhomes project.

The referendum died last month when the petition failed to receive enough signatures to qualify it for the ballot.

However, the moratorium initiative made it onto the ballot last week after qualifying by a narrow margin.

Under state law, at least 6,312 signatures, representing 10% of the city’s registered voters, were needed to qualify the initiative for the ballot. The county registrar-recorder’s office reported that the petition had just 10 valid signatures over the minimum.

The initiative calls for a moratorium of up to two years on all major commercial and residential developments, except those projects that are unanimously approved by the board. The measure defines “major developments” as 25 or more housing units or projects larger than 25,000 square feet.

During the moratorium, the city would be required to rewrite its long-range general plan to include stricter development standards.

The initiative also would require developers to pay a number of new fees aimed both at discouraging development and at ensuring that the city would be repaid for street, utility and sewage improvements that largely benefit businesses.

Slow-growth advocates have hailed the initiative as a comprehensive plan to bring what they regard as rampant development under control.

Attorney Sutton denied that the initiative would stop all development, noting that smaller projects would not be affected.

“It will not halt construction, merely limit the size of construction,” he said.

The flurry of activity by developers marks a sharp contrast to the almost slow-motion approach adopted by the sponsor of the initiative, the Northeast Pasadena Residents Assn.

Amos Hoagland, one leader of the residents’ group, said members are still recovering from the two-month petition drive to place the initiative on the ballot.

“We are going to take it easy for awhile,” he said.

The group has not raised any money or plotted a strategy to wage what is expected to be a bitter campaign, said Donald Zimbler, another member of the group.

“We’re just a little group of people who a year ago didn’t know anything. Now we have this on the ballot,” he said. “We’re still in a learning curve, and I hope we make it to the top in time.”

Although the group is short on cash and experience, members are confident that a grass-roots campaign to slow growth will win the support of the voters.

“We have all the strikes against us, but we have the gumption to go out and do this,” Zimbler said. “They may spend $100,000 to $150,000 to defeat this, but we will spend 100,000 to 150,000 hours to make it win.”

Rose Townhomes, the project that sparked the initiative, would be located on a 16.4-acre lot north of Pasadena High School, the largest piece of vacant land left in the city.

Over the past two years, the city has experienced unprecedented growth. During the last fiscal year, the city issued building permits for more than $190 million in new construction, far eclipsing the previous record of $137 million set in 1983.

“There is a definite undercurrent of displeasure about growth throughout the San Gabriel Valley,” Zimbler said. “Maybe we have a wave to ride.”

Sutton said that although developers have tried to characterize the initiative as a radical approach to controlling growth, many of its points have been discussed for years in Pasadena and other cities swept up in the slow-growth movement.

The aim is not to stop growth but to ensure that it proceeds at an orderly pace and is not subsidized by residents, he said.

“It’s easy to call something radical,” Sutton said. “If the city wants it to work, it will.”