Initiative Petition Would Reverse "First Tee" Decision

INITIATIVE MEASURE TO BE SUBMITTED TO VOTERS [DRAFT]

To the City Council of the City of Seaside:

We the undersigned voters of the City of Seaside, hereby present this petition and request that the following be passed without alteration by the City Council, or, failing adoption by the City Council, be submitted to a vote of the people at a special election called for that purpose.

We, the People of the City of Seaside do ordain as follows:

Section 1. Findings:
The People of the City of Seaside do hereby find:
This is an initiative to delete golf course uses on lands zoned “military enclave” in the City of Seaside and to ensure all such lands are free and clear of hazardous waste before they can be used by the City of Seaside. It also requires the use of non-potable water for golf courses. This initiative is needed because the economic future of the City of Seaside and the future ability of the youth of the city to remain and live in Seaside depend upon an adequate supply of potable water to serve new uses on vacant lands within the city and on those federal lands of Ft Ord destined to become part of the City of Seaside.

The creation and construction of golf courses requires a relatively large commitment of water but that water need not be potable water. All golf courses within the city should use non-potable water but there is presently no such supply of non-potable water available to serve existing or new golf courses.

No new golf courses should be built in the City of Seaside unless and until there is available non-potable water to initiate irrigation and maintenance of a golf course.

Golf courses on lands owned by the City of Seaside have an obligation to provide opportunities to the citizens of the City of Seaside to learn and play the game of golf.

In addition to the lack of water supply for the lands of the former Ft Ord, some of those lands also contain hazardous wastes of various kinds, including unexploded ordnance which is considered to be a hazardous waste. As a result of such contamination, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the State of California Department of Toxic Substances Control have designated Ft. Ord as a “superfund” site requiring all properties of the former fort to be cleared of contamination. No such lands should be used within the City of Seaside until said lands have been certified by these agencies as being clear of all hazardous waste, including unexploded ordnance.

Section 2. Zoning Amendment
Military Enclave zoning, ME-FO zoning is amended to delete “golf courses and ancillary uses” as a permissible use.

This change applies to all new proposed golf courses that do not have a vested right to proceed at the time this ordinance becomes effective. A vested right is granted only upon obtaining a building permit and commencing construction pursuant to said building permit.

Section 3
On all lands designated Military Enclave, ME-FO, by the City of Seaside, prior to the approval of any use of lands with such zoning, the city shall send out a Request For Proposals to solicit the broadest response possible for the utilization of such lands for the greatest benefit to the citizens of the City of Seaside.

Section 4
No building permit nor grading permit shall be approved by the City of Seaside for anything other than remediation for any lands which were previously part of Ft. Ord, which have not been declared free of hazardous waste, including unexploded ordnance, by either the California Department of Toxic Substances Control or the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Section 5 Recycled Water For Golf Courses

(a) No new golf course shall be built in the city unless and until the construction and continued irrigation of any new golf course can be done with non-potable water. Any use of potable water on lands newly dedicated to golfing shall be for indoor uses, including fire protection, only.

(b) All golf courses within the City of Seaside must use non-potable water for golf course irrigation when there is available such non-potable water for irrigation.

Section 6 Golf For Residents
Upon the lease of any lands used for a golf course purpose owned by the City of Seaside, or the Redevelopment Agency thereof, or the renewal of any such lease, the lessor shall require the lessee to provide opportunities to the residents of the City of Seaside to learn and play golf at little or no cost to these residents.

Section 5 Severability
The people do hereby state that it is their intention to adopt each of these provisions independent of any of the other provisions and that if any one provision or the application thereof is found by a court to be invalid, such invalidity either on its face or as applied, shall not affect the validity of any other provision or application of this ordinance.Reinsert the Title and City Attorney Summary

NOTICE OF INTENTION TO CIRCULATE PETITION
Notice is hereby given by the persons listed below of their intention to circulate a petition within the City of Seaside for the purposes and reasons set out in the proposed ordinance for the City of Seaside. We request that a ballot title and summary be prepared. Dated: December 31, 2004. Billy DeBerry, 10 Athens Court, Seaside, California; Helen Rucker, 1405 Mescal St., Seaside, California; Lance Houston, 1975 Luxton, Seaside, California.

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC: THIS PETITION MAY BE CIRCULATED BY A PAID SIGNATURE GATHERER OR VOLUNTEER. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO ASK.

For more information contact:

Billy DeBerry, 10 Athens Court, Seaside, California -
bdeberry7765@sbcglobal.net

Helen Rucker, 1405 Mescal St., Seaside, California -
hrucker@sbcglobal.net

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posted 02.11.04