3 resident-driven initiatives placed on Costa Mesa ballot as city weighs competing measures

Three resident-sponsored initiatives — two related to medical marijuana and one concerning growth — will go before Costa Mesa voters in the fall, the City Council decided this week.

Though they voted unanimously Tuesday to place the initiatives on the Nov. 8 ballot, council members will weigh at their next meeting whether to move ahead with their own competing measures on those topics.

Lawyers from Jones & Mayer, Costa Mesa’s contractor for city attorney services, are working to write a city-sponsored medical marijuana measure. The city has retained another law firm, Rutan & Tucker, to craft one on growth.

The measures are tentatively scheduled for discussion at the council’s June 21 meeting, according to city spokesman Tony Dodero.

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Should council members decide to forge ahead with the efforts, both items would return for final approval July 5.

The measures haven’t been released, but council members previously provided guidance on how they should look.

During their meeting April 19, council members said a city-sponsored medical marijuana initiative should restrict dispensaries to the area north of South Coast Drive and west of Harbor Boulevard.

Such dispensaries have been banned in the city since 2005.

Council members also said the measure should include some sort of tax and allow the manufacture of some related oils for pharmaceutical purposes.

The resident-sponsored medical marijuana initiatives on the ballot would allow a small number of dispensaries — either four or eight. Both also propose a 6% tax on medical marijuana businesses.

Costa Mesa resident Robin Leffler said during Tuesday’s council meeting that she’s “not that in favor of having marijuana for sale in the city” but that the city should be the one to determine the rules.

The resident-led growth-control initiative on November’s ballot — sponsored by the group Costa Mesa First — would require local voter approval for some larger developments.

Jay Humphrey, who worked with the group to push the initiative, said Tuesday that the measure making it to the ballot “speaks well to the people of this community and to their determination to actually have public control over some issues due in our future.”

Detractors have decried the proposal as overly restrictive and said it could expose the city to lawsuits.

The proposal would cover projects requiring a general plan amendment or zoning change that also would entail construction of 40 or more dwelling units or at least 10,000 square feet of commercial space or generate more than 200 average daily vehicle trips.

During an April 5 discussion of a possible competing growth initiative, council members suggested charging park fees for commercial projects or requiring developers of some larger projects to incorporate bike paths.

Council members said at the time that residential development should be limited in some areas on the north side of the 405 Freeway to avoid eroding the city’s industrial base in favor of housing.

Should multiple medical marijuana or growth initiatives pass in November, the ones that receive the most votes would become law.

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Luke Money, lucas.money@latimes.com

Twitter: @LukeMMoney

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