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San Bernardino County, CA November 8, 2005 Election
Measure R
Zone Change
City of Redlands
Majority Approval Required

Fail: 7,700 / 41.90% Yes votes ...... 10,675 / 58.10% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures
Results as of November 21 6:44pm, 100.00%% of Precincts Reporting (37/37)
Information shown below: Impartial Analysis | Arguments | Full Text

Shall Ordinance No. 2606, adopting Zone Change No 390, a change of zone from A-1 (Agricultural) District (five-acre lots) to R-R (Rural Residential) District (one-acre lots) on four contiguous lots totalling 180.9 acres located south of Highview Drive and east of Freye Drive for the Covington Project, be approved?

Impartial Analysis from the City Attorney
This ballot question relates to the Redlands City Council’s adoption of Ordinance No. 2606 which changed the zoning designation from “A-1" (Agricultural) District to “R-R” (Rural Residential) District for certain property located in an area of southeast Redlands commonly known as Live Oak Canyon. A group of citizens, identifying themselves as Citizens of Redlands For Redlands, submitted a qualified referendum on Ordinance No. 2606 to the City Council which, under state law, required the City Council to either repeal Ordinance No. 2606 or submit Ordinance No. 2606 to Redlands’ citizens for a vote. In response, the City Council decided against repealing Ordinance No. 2606, and instead has submitted the question of whether Ordinance No. 2606 should be approved to the voters.

As background, Covington Construction and Development Company made application to the City to construct a residential subdivision of 88 homes on approximately 181 acres of property located south of Highview Drive and east of Freya Drive. Covington’s application consisted of a request for a general plan amendment, the zone change which is the subject of Ordinance No. 2606, a conditional use permit for a planned residential development to allow the clustering of homes on the property, and a subdivision map. On April 19, 2005, the City Council approved the general plan amendment, the conditional use permit for the planned residential development, a tentative subdivision map, and the zone change from “A-1" (Agricultural) District to “R-R” (Rural Residential) District enacted by Ordinance No. 2606.

A general comparison of the “A-1" and “R-R” zones is as follows:

The uses permitted in the “A-1” (Agricultural) District are apiaries; farms or ranches; orchards, groves and nurseries; single family residences (not more than two dwellings on each parcel of 5 acres or more); and the sale of fruits, vegetables, flowers and other products raised on the property. Lots in the “A-1” zone are required to be a minimum of 5 acres and population density is limited to one dwelling unit per 2.5 acres.

The uses permitted in the “R-R” (Rural Residential) District are single family dwellings; uses permitted in the “A-2” (Estates Agricultural) District; horses; and home occupations defined in Chapter 18.08 of the City’s Code. Lots in the “R-R” zone are required to be a minimum of 1 acre, and population density is limited to one dwelling unit per acre.

If the voters agree with the action of the City Council and approve Ordinance No. 2606, the effect of that approval will be to change the zoning for the Covington property from “A-1” (Agricultural) District to “R-R” (Rural Residential) District. If the voters disagree with the action of the City Council and do not approve Ordinance No. 2606, the effect of that disapproval will be to leave the zoning for the property as it exists today, and will prevent Covington from constructing that specific planned residential development subdivision which was approved by the City Council on April 19, 2005.

   Official Information

City of Redlands
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PE.com (registration required)

Redlands Daily Facts
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Arguments For Measure R Arguments Against Measure R
Save Redlands last Open Space!

Vote YES on Measure R, and protect forever, over 110 acres of Redlands natural open space from future development.

The “Emerald Necklace” plan for open space surrounding our city will never be fully realized until our open space areas are protected from development and placed in public ownership or in the hands of our local conservancies. A Yes vote on Measure R will protect this valuable natural asset for the residents of Redlands.

A YES vote on Measure R will protect the crown jewel in that necklace, Live Oak Canyon. Your YES vote will protect this land for future generations and preserve the rural fabric of our community. Your YES vote will create Redlands largest public park! This key link in the “necklace’ plan will connect to other open space areas with new trails, public access points, carefully restored habitat areas and the funding necessary to maintain it, without a tax increase!

Approving Measure R will set an important precedent for future development in our city and will send a clear message that we expect significant open space dedications and public benefits to accompany any proposal to develop on our borders.

Without your support, this land will develop into large privately owned estates and this valuable open space will be lost forever. This land contains large flat areas with beautiful stands of oaks. It provides access to one of the most beautiful canyons in our community. Saving this magnificent site is one of Redlands highest priorities. It is an important step is preserving our quality of life in Redlands.

Please join our City leaders in supporting this important effort to preserve this beautiful open space for all the residents of Redlands.

Carole Beswick
Former City of Redlands Mayor

Kasey Haws
Former City of Redlands Mayor

Pat Gilbreath
City of Redlands Councilwoman, Former City of Redlands Mayor

Swen Larson
Former City of Redlands Mayor

Rebuttal to Arguments For
Live Oak Canyon is not being saved; it is being ruined!

The real issue in Measure R is the Redlands City Council's blatant disregard for the people they represent. In the longest city council meeting in the history of Redlands, citizen after citizen spoke against granting the Covington project zone change. The Council ignored citizen pleas and voted against community wishes.

Remember, Measure R has nothing to do with the Emerald Necklace. The issue is a precedent setting zone change that will nearly triple the density of houses in the Covington project and set a devastating standard for developing the entire Live Oak Canyon area. As Gary George said, "We don't have to create the Emerald Necklace, it's already there."

The truth is, the developer's own environmental report state the original (1 house per 5 acre) A-1 zoning (35 houses) is "clearly environmentally superior" as it "would create significantly more open space", "would eliminate the significant environmental impacts", and "would reduce the volume of traffic".

There is no real park included in this project, mostly steep unbuildable hillsides. The steep terrain of this "park" would severely limit public use.

When the City Council members callously ignore the wishes of the people, the citizen only recourse is the referendum process. Please go to the polls and show the Redlands City Council that the citizens refuse to be silenced or ignored.

This is your chance to reverse the disastrous and far reaching zone change. Vote NO on Measure R.

Citizens of Redlands for Redlands

Teddy Banta
(City Council Candidate)
President, Citizens of Redlands for Redlands

Amanda Frye
Vice-President, Citizens of Redlands for Redlands

Helen Waitz
Treasurer, Citizens of Redlands for Redlands

Fred Waitz
Member-at-Large, Citizens of Redlands for Redlands

A NO vote reverses the Live Oak Canyon zone change for the Covington Project approved in April by the Redlands City Council. The Redlands City Council, in a precedent setting action, voted to change the 1 house per 5 acre zoning. This more than doubles the number of tract houses to be built while encouraging urban sprawl and more traffic. There was no need to change the zoning except to benefit the developer. Join the Citizens of Redlands for Redlands and over 6000 petition signers and Vote NO on Measure R.

Citizens of Redlands for Redlands

Teddy Banta

Amanda Frye

Brian Roche

Fred Waitz

Helen Waitz

Rebuttal to Arguments Against
Don’t be FOOLED by Citizens of Redlands for Redlands “Zone Change” rhetoric. That’s not the real issue.

The choice for Redlands voters is very clear:

Vote YES – 100 acres of open space – the largest park in Redlands

Public amenities, trails, habitat restoration

Maintenance funding with no tax increase

Clustered upscale housing

Vote NO – No Open Space

No public facilities or access

No clustering; entire site used for housing

It’s simply bad planning to carve this magnificent land into five-acre estates for 36 families and get nothing for future generations of Redlands residents.

Your YES vote on Measure R will preserve forever, a 100 acre public park, as the gateway to Live Oak Canyon.

A YES vote on Measure R will preserve the crown jewel in the EMERALD NECKLACE chain of open space parks proposed to surround our city.

Join former Redlands Mayors, Carole Beswick, Kasey Haws, Pat Gilbreath and Swen Larson in supporting Measure R.

Vote YES on Measure R.

Vote YES for sensible planning.

Vote YES to surround our community with open space.

Vote YES to preserve our quality of life in Redlands.

Pat Gilbreath
City of Redlands Councilwoman, Former City of Redlands Mayor

Kasey Haws
Former City of Redlands Mayor

Swen Larson
Former City of Redlands Mayor

Carole Beswick
Former City of Redlands Mayor

Full Text of Measure R
ORDINANCE NO. 2606

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF REDLANDS AMENDING TITLE 18 OF THE REDLANDS MUNICIPAL CODE BY ADOPTING A REVISED LAND USE ZONING MAP

ZONE CHANGE NO. 390

THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF REDLANDS DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. The zoning designation for four contiguous lots totaling 180.9 acres located south of Highview Drive and east of Freya Drive and further identified as Assessor's Parcel Nos. 300-241-17, 18, 19 and 20 is hereby changed from "A-1" (Agricultural) District to "R-R" (Rural Residential) District on the City's Land Use Zoning Map.

Section 2. The Mayor shall sign this ordinance and the City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this ordinance and shall cause it, or a summary of it, to be published once in the Redlands Daily Facts, a newspaper of general circulation within the City, and thereafter, this ordinance shall take effect in accordance with law.

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Created: January 28, 2006 14:44 PST
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