Voters approve of citizen’s initiative fighting back against the “blank check” to developers by a nearly 3-1 margin
California – A new statewide poll of 900 registered voters shows voters support the measure to restore a community voice in planning by a margin of 64.8% yes to 22.7% no, with 12.6% undecided.
The poll of November 2022 voters was conducted by Probolsky Research from November 13 to November 18 in English and Spanish. The poll has a Margin of Error of 3.2 percent.
“Voters strongly oppose the new state laws that strip our ability to speak out about what is happening literally right next door to our homes,” said Bill Brand, Mayor of Redondo Beach, one of the initiative sponsors. “These strong poll numbers validate the surge of support we are seeing on the ground – Californians want to bring back their ability to shape and improve what is being built in their neighborhoods,” Brand said.
In the past several years, Sacramento politicians have passed numerous state laws that take away the ability of local communities to make thoughtful planning decisions. These laws are denying Californians the right to speak out in a meaningful way when developers are damaging and gentrifying their neighborhoods.
These new state laws, including SB9 and SB10, allow developers to build multi-unit and multi-story buildings next door to single-family homes without local approval, without community input, and without any new contributions to fund transit, schools, parks, roads, public safety or any other services. The new state laws allow developers to build more expensive housing without any units being reserved for affordable housing and with zero new contributions to affordable housing programs.
The “Our Neighborhood Voices Initiative” will restore local input and the ability of residents to speak out about what is happening next door to their homes and apartments. The initiative is gathering signatures to qualify for the November 2022 ballot.
Proponent John Heath, founding President of the United Homeowners’ Association, said, “Voters understand that turning local planning decisions over to developers means massive displacement and gentrification. It does not mean new affordable housing.”
Proponent Jovita Mendoza, a member of the Brentwood City Council, said, “Sacramento is listening to a handful of activists, not the voters. Voters understand this isn’t a choice between new affordable housing and a local voice in planning. We can have both.”
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The Our Neighborhood Voices Initiative can be found at OurNeighborhoodVoices.com.
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