An initiative aimed at curbing development in Merced's rural lands is one step closer to becoming law.
The Merced County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to accept the county registrar's certification of the "Save Farmland" initiative and to begin a 30-day study of the measure's impact on county government and development.
The initiative, if passed by voters or enacted into law, would amend the county's general plan. The amendment would apply to land designated for either agricultural or open space use, which could only be converted to residential use by a public vote.
The initiative would lock in such rules until 2040.
More than 7,620 signatures in support of the measure were gathered by the initiative's supporters. Eighty percent of a 500-signature sample was validated by County Registrar Karen Adams on June 14.
California Election Code allows county boards of supervisors to analyze an initiative for its impact on county operations, economic development and finances, along with other issues. The study is intended to help the board decide whether to enact the law or send it to the public for a vote. The study can't keep the initiative from appearing on voters' ballots.
Once the study is completed, supervisors can vote to enact the initiative into law within 10 days, or place the item on the Nov. 2 ballot.
"This doesn't stop development or growth -- it just means people have a say in whether there should be massive housing tracts in the middle of farm land," said "Save Farmland" spokesman Alan Schoff. He added that developers seeking to rezone land, not the county, would have to pay for the cost of the election to allow the change, according to the language of the measure.
"Save Farmland" is modeled after Measure E, a Stanislaus County initiative nicknamed "Stamp Out Sprawl," that captured 66 percent of the vote when it was passed in 2008.
Reporter Danielle E. Gaines can be reached at (209) 385-2477 or dgaines@mercedsun-star.com.
E-Mail
Print
