31508 / 48.5% Yes votes ...... 33484 / 51.5% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

The Greenbelt Master Plan would prohibit the City from approving retail, industrial, commercial and/or residential land uses within the designated greenbelt, and provide that agricultural uses and non-commercial recreational land uses not in conflict with surrounding agricultural operations be allowed.

Prior to adoption and approval of the Greenbelt Master Plan, the City would prepare and certify an Environmental Impact Report for the Plan and adopt or submit to the voters of the City a Financing Implementation Plan to justly compensate farmers and property owners adversely affected by the Greenbelt Master Plan.

Another measure on this ballot, Measure Q, if adopted by a majority of voters, would amend the City of Stockton's General Plan by establishing an Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). Under Measure Q, development of property outside the UGB would generally require approval by a vote of the electorate. This Measure T provides that it is intended to fully conflict with Measure Q and to take precedence over Measure Q in the event that both measures are approved by the voters.

The above statement is an impartial analysis of Measure T. If you desire a copy of Measure T, please call the Stockton City Clerk's office at (209) 937-8459, and a copy will be mailed at no cost to you.

Everyone agrees on the need for a Greenbelt between Stockton and Lodi. What we need is a process, a plan and a firm deadline.

Measure T creates a 1 mile wide planning area between Interstate 5 and Highway 99 within which community leaders, property owners and private citizens can come together in an open, impartial manner to find a permanent solution for a Greenbelt between Lodi and Stockton.

Measure T is fair to property owners.

Measure T requires the City Council to adopt a Greenbelt Master Plan that will establish a Greenbelt and preserve agricultural operations and open space between the City of Stockton and the City of Lodi. The Master Plan will require that farmers included within the proposed Greenbelt receive fair compensation for any loss of property rights caused by the establishment and/or implementation of the plan. Measure T protects farmland.

According to the City Attorney's Impartial Analysis, "The Greenbelt Master Plan would prohibit the City from approving retail, industrial, commercial and/or residential land uses within the designated Greenbelt, and provide that agricultural uses and non-commercial recreational land uses not in conflict with surrounding agricultural operations be allowed." Measure T has real teeth.

Measure T establishes a real deadline by which planning for a Greenbelt must be completed.

Unlike some studies that seem to go on forever, Measure T requires that the Greenbelt Master Plan be adopted by the City Council no later than June 30, 2006 or the City Council's salary is suspended until the plan is adopted. The deadline cannot be changed without a vote of the people. Measure T is tough, firm and fair.

Don't be fooled by halfway measures. Vote YES on Measure T. Measure T gets the job done.

Submitted by:
/s/ Frank "Larry" Ruhstaller, Council Member, City of Stockton
/s/ Gary A. Podesto, Mayor, City of Stockton

So why did the City Council put it on the ballot? Measure T is a diversion from Measure Q, the Urban Growth Boundary measure -- the one measure that includes concrete action to protect open space and our quality of life. Measure T's true purpose is a cynical "poison pill" provision buried within the measure that is designed to defeat Measure Q, because the City Council is unwilling to take real action to curb urban sprawl.

The City of Stockton is in the process of a General Plan update. The City started that update in secret and laid the groundwork with developers before the public became aware of what it planned for roughly 50 years of Stockton growth. Now, because citizens in Stockton had the gumption to say: "Slow down sprawl" and put Measure Q on the ballot, the City Council put Measure T on the ballot in a last minute attempt to defeat that citizen effort.

Unlike Measure Q, Measure T won't address unchecked traffic congestion and air pollution, and it won't bring sanity to future growth planning in Stockton.

The City of Stockton's growth policies should be designed to protect Stockton's quality of life. The City Council should be working for the citizens with a growth plan that will give real results in creating a livable community.

Vote "No" on Measure T.
Vote "Yes" on Measure Q for Quality of Life and Sensible Growth.

Submitted by:
Campaign for Sensible Growth
/s/ Trevor H. Atkinson, Campaign for Sensible Growth
/s/ Ann Johnston, Former City Council member
/s/ Patrick Johnston, Former State Senator
/s/ Barbara Walker, President, League of Women Voters of San Joaquin County
/s/ Rosemary Moon Atkinson, Campaign for Common Ground

• Having scuttled a cooperative regional program to establish a community separator between Stockton and Lodi, the Stockton City Council now asks you to believe they will create a greenbelt. In fact, Measure T does no such thing.
• Measure T is too little, too late. It is a hastily crafted attempt to add more confusion to the ballot. It was placed on the ballot in a last minute scramble by the Stockton City Council in a blatant attempt to defeat the Urban Growth Boundary Initiative, Measure Q.
• Creation of a greenbelt between Stockton and Lodi is a complex issue requiring the joint efforts of the county, the landowners and both cities. A hastily cobbled "master plan" by a city council threatened with loss of salaries is unlikely to produce a workable, collaborative program for open space preservation.
• Like Measure S, Measure T is another wolf in sheep's clothing. Its true purpose is contained in a "poison pill" clause that attempts to defeat Measure Q, the Urban Growth Boundary measure.
• Measure Q is the only measure on the ballot that will slow Stockton's expansion into the farmland north of Eight Mile Road, providing time for a true collaborative greenbelt agreement to be reached.

It creates a public process, sets a firm deadline and penalizes the City Council with the loss of their salary if they fail to accomplish the goal. And Measure T cannot be changed without a vote of the people.

The real "wolf in sheep's clothing" is Measure Q -- it falsely claims to create a Greenbelt. The truth is, the Chairman of the Measure Q campaign admitted in a public hearing that Measure Q does not create a Greenbelt.

Measure T requires that the Stockton City Council develop a plan to create a permanent Greenbelt between Stockton and Lodi -- isn't that what everyone really wants?

Rather than a "hastily cobbled plan" -- Measure T requires an 18 month public process that guarantees that all those affected; farmers, landowners and other interested parties have a chance to be heard.

Previous attempts at creating such a plan failed because farmers and landowners affected by the decision were left out of the planning process. Measure T requires that farmer's property rights be protected and that they receive fair compensation for the value of any land taken for a Greenbelt. Measure T is a contract between the citizens and their city government.

Measure T is the only initiative that creates a Greenbelt Master Plan for the City of Stockton.

Vote yes on Measure T to permanently protect open space between Stockton and Lodi.

Submitted by:
/s/ Frank "Larry" Ruhstaller, Council Member, City of Stockton
/s/ Gary A. Podesto, Mayor, City of Stockton