City Takes Stand Against 'Underhanded' Lawmaking

The day after a major judicial decision upheld Lake Forest's right to decide for itself what its land could be used for—in that case, marijuana dispensaries—the City Council made a stand against lawmaking that tries to usurp that control with hidden language.

At the request of councilman Peter Herzog, it voted 4-0 to oppose State Assembly Bill 667 (land use and superstore retailers) because of language that appeared near the end that Herzog said removed land use control from local governments. Herzog also mentioned SB 673 of being guilty of the same political trick employed out of Sacramento.

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"We just had a tremendous decision yesterday from the Supreme Court highlighting the need for local control over land use and how that is a right under the Constitution for local governments and that's held to a very high standard, yet the legislature is trying to undermine the ability of cities and counties to control that land use and they do it in a very underhanded way" by including the phrase " 'is an issue of statewide concern.' " Herzog said. "In these two bills at the very end, they use the phrase that 'the legislature finds and declares that (this subject) is 'a matter of statewide concern and not merely a municipal affair.'

"Both of these bills deal with local land use decisions. What we see happening in the state legislature is an effort to remove local control and make land use a matter of statewide concern. If that process and policy is adopted, that will dramatically change local government."

Herzog went on to say cities in the 5th district in south Orange County were formed in the late 1980s and '90s "specifically to take over control of our own destiny," and that the offending phrasing is creeping into other bills "and goes against the reason we incorporated in the first place—as well as go against the Constitutional aspects of why local government should be involved in land use and only local government."

Herzog suggested the need to direct the city's legislative advocate to "search all bills" for such phraseology and that "any bill that goes toward this effort should be opposed regardless of the nature of the bill."

Herzog concluded, saying that "land use is the core of what makes local government responsive to the people and it's the core of why these cities were formed here in Orange County ... and I would hate to see that stripped away by Sacramento, of all places."

In seconding the motion, Dwight Robinson said he couldn't agree more with Herzog.

The absence for the second consecutive meeting by Mayor Scott Voigts meant the scheduled agenda was a bit lighter than expected.

Voigts, who had missed the previous meeting because of a torn rotator cuff, has since had surgery. He had asked a couple of items be continued, and in deference to his absence, Items 12 and 13 on the agenda were continued once more. They were the five-year strategic plan review, and potential modifications to the city's temporary signage and promotion procedures and live entertainment regulations.

Among the items passed by the remaining four council members under the guidance of Mayor Pro Tem Kathryn McCullough was consent calendar items that included the 2013/14 Community Development Block Grant monies to eight nonprofit entities: Families Forward ($7,500), South County Outreach ($7,500), Fair Housing Council of Orange County ($6,000), Camino Health Center ($7,500), Laguna Beach Community Clinic ($7,500), Human Options ($4,950), Saddleback Valley Unified School District for The Learning Connection ($7,500) and South County Senior Services ($7,500). An additional $242,450 was included for Phases 6 and 7 of Americans with Disabilities Act Access Ramp Improvements, and $74,600 for program administration.

TELL US IN THE COMMENTS: Should the City uniformly oppose proposed laws that try to sneak land use language into the back end that strips the city of authority?