Library

Ballot Initiative to Require Voter Approval for Major Commercial Projects

• Ballot Initiative Summary
• Full text of the Ballot Initiative
• Frequently Asked Questions

Downtown Specific Plan (DSP)- Significant changes that would alter the look of downtown forever

• Draft of the proposed Downtown Specific Plan

Downtown Action Plan- Remodel the Look and Feel of Downtown

• Latest draft of the Downtown Action Plan
• Article in LA Times about the proposed removal of most of the trees on Forest Ave as part of the Action Plan
• Visualization of what Forest Avenue would look like after it's trees are removed.

White Papers on other Major Issues

• Read the City's intensive study of the cost and return for building more parking garages.  It finds they can not pay for themselves.  Guess who ends up paying the difference..the residents, of course.
• Most everyone supports the City being flexible, so that individual business owners can make their own decisions on how to use their space to meet the market’s needs. Our concern is only when a new use creates more congestion, such as turning a shop into a bar.  Those increases in congestion and parking demand have to be paid by someone.  The City's outside consultant ignores the social cost that some businesses bring.  Read the outside consultant's report on his view of the future of downtown.
• What is a Development Agreement?  Read the Development Agreement Manual from the League of California Cities 

Laguna Canyon Planning and Zoning Documents

• Laguna Canyon Annexation Area Specific Plan
• Laguna Canyon Planning Study

Background documents on other ballot initiatives -  See what Costa Mesa, Dana Point, Malibu, and other cities have done

• The official, impartial analysis of Costa Mesa's Proposition Y that clearly put voters in control of major development.
• One of the Liberate Laguna developers tried to stop enforcement of Cosa Mesa's limitations - and failed.
• The "Ballotpedia" coverage of the pro and con arguments for major development restrictions.
• Read Costa Mesa's full ballot measure to put residents in control of major development.
• Summary of Dana Point's ballot initiative for responsible development
• Malibu's Measure R - Voters now play a major role in Malibu Development

What Overdevelopment is doing to other cities

• • Redevelopment of Oceanside - Mixed-use and higher density changes the face of the city

The "Liberate Laguna" PAC and the developers who are behind it

Mohammad "Mo" Honarkar  and his "The Laguna Company" ($20,000 to Liberate Laguna)

• Plans for "Museum Hotel" (The entire block north of the Art Museum)
• Plans for The Cleo ( the block north of Ralphs - height and density exceptions)
• Local residents are against caving in on building restrictions necessary to build The Cleo
• Trouble in Irvine - Mohammad is halted from converting a golf course to a high-density apartment complex.
• How much money does Mohammad have, and where did it come from?

Sanderson J Ray Construction  ($17,000 to Liberate Laguna)

• Sanderson files suit against Coast Mesa's development limitation initiative
• Sanderson's latest apartment building development project

Who are the Developers who Donated to Liberate Laguna?

• Developer Spending for City Council 2018
• Summary of donations as of Oct 30
• Form 460-Campaign Disclosure Statement-Liberate Laguna PAC Jan 1 - June 30, 2018
• Form 460-Campaign Disclosure Statement-Liberate Laguna PAC July 1 - Sept 22, 2018 - AMENDED
• Form 497-Contribution Report-Liberate Laguna PAC Oct 10, 2018
• Form 497-Contribution Report-Samuel Goldstein- October 1, 2018
• Form 497-Contribution Report-Samuel Goldstein- October 22, 2018
• Form 460-Campaign Disclosure Statement-Liberate Laguna Sept 23 - Oct 20, 2018

Shopoff Realty/Enterprises ($33,000 to Liberate Laguna)

As stated in an OC Register article May 22, 2020, "Shopoff Realty Investments creates investor funds to finance commercial and residential real estate ventures across the country. In addition to investing in mixed-use projects, hotels, shopping centers an apartment buildings, the Shopoffs’ specialty is finding property with untapped value, obtaining development rights and new zoning, then reselling it for a substantial profit.”

• Approval of the huge Shopoff Realty Investments condo project in Newport Beach will be delayed because many of the Planning Commission members have to recuse themselves for Conflict of Interest. 
• Shopoff Realty Investments spent $800,000 on land zoned for residential, then changed that into a million square foot high-volume warehouse.
• Shopoff gets a black eye on Yelp from resident-neighbors upset at the disregard for development completely incompatible for the existing residential community.