Voters in North County Divided on Local Slow-Growth Issues

The growth issue got a mixed reception Tuesday in North County as Encinitas voters appeared to deal a stunning defeat to two slow-growth measures while an open-space preservation plan won approval in Poway.

Two slow-growth candidates appeared to be in the thick of the council race in Oceanside, but a bond measure to finance new schools needed to accommodate growth in Vista was falling short of the necessary two-thirds majority.

The biggest surprise of the night, however, came in Encinitas, where slow-growth Propositions AA and BB were being defeated by an electorate that just two years before voted overwhelmingly to form a city, largely because of the rampant pro-growth stance of the County Board of Supervisors.

Mayor Rick Shea, a Proposition AA backer, pointed to confusion on the part of voters and aggressive campaigning by the opposition--which included incorporation leader Bob Bonde--as prime reasons for the defeat of the slow-growth measures.

“We’ve seen less than factual information from the opposition and some scare tactics,” Shea said.

Also, Shea said, some voters may have been troubled because the council has yet to make final a general plan, the land-use blueprint that would act as a framework for any slow-growth provisions.

“It may have all added up to make people think this was not the time” for either of the slow-growth measures, he said.

Despite the setback for the measures, Encinitas voters appeared to be favoring slow-growth candidate Pamela Slater along with Councilwoman Anne Omsted in the race for three council seats. Incumbent Greg Luke, Cardiff Town Council President John Davis and Planning Commissioner Gail Hano were just behind the two leaders.

Poway voters, meanwhile, sent Proposition FF, a measure backed by Mayor Bob Emery that will require voter approval for any zoning changes of rural and open-space lands, to victory with about a 2-to-1 margin. A competing measure, Proposition GG, lost badly.

In Oceanside, slow-growth candidates Nancy York and Melba Bishop were in a tight race with incumbents Sam Williamson and Walter Gilbert for two open council seats. Longtime Mayor Larry Bagley appeared headed toward a solid victory.

Carlsbad voters, meanwhile, returned incumbents Ann Kulchin and Eric Larson to their council seats, while slow-growth challenger Dan Hammer, who waged a hard-fought campaign aimed primarily at Kulchin, ran third.

Solana Beach council members Marion Dodson, Richard Hendlin and Celine Olson also seemed to be headed toward victory late Tuesday, although challenger Teri Renteria was still within striking distance with half the vote counted.

When four unincorporated coastal communities united two years ago to form the city of Encinitas, the prime issue was to slow runaway growth. Since then, however, the community has splintered into numerous factions supporting similar goals but espousing different methods of achieving them.

Proposition AA, the lengthy and complex growth-management measure was designed to strengthen the city’s still-unadopted general plan, proposed a cap on residential development of about 220 units annually for the next 25 years.

The measure was championed by Mayor Shea and, in particular, Councilwoman Marjorie Gaines, who also pushed a slate of slow-growth candidates in the election. Indeed, many local pundits characterized the slow-growth battle and council race as a test of Gaines’ political power.

The competing measure, Proposition BB, called for a ceiling of 400 units annually in 1989, 350 in 1990 and 300 a year from 1991 through 1998. The City Council also sponsored a third measure, Proposition CC, dictating that the slow-growth measure getting the most votes prevails.

In Poway, the electorate was given a choice between Proposition FF, requiring voter approval for any upzoning or rezoning of the city’s open space and rural residential lands, and the less-restrictive Proposition GG, a measure calling for a citizens committee to spell out criteria for development.

Vista voters faced the slow-growth issue on a different plain--money for schools. Proposition LL requested that voters in the Vista Unified School District approve a $63-million bond issue to finance new schools to accommodate growth.

Oceanside and Carlsbad voters had already decided their slow-growth battles in years past, but the council races hinged in part on the candidates’ stances on the issue.

In Oceanside, incumbent Councilmen Gilbert and Williamson, and Mayor Bagley, faced a crowded field that included a slate of former Councilwoman Bishop and attorney York in the council race, and airline pilot Don Rodee for mayor.