Landmarks Initiative Qualifies for Special Election

By Jorge Casuso

Oct. 17 - A ballot initiative that would require an owner's permission before the City can designate a single family home as a landmark qualified Tuesday for a special election next Spring with nearly 10,000 valid signatures.

The proposed "Homeowners Freedom of Choice Initiative" needed the valid signatures of 9,135 registered Santa Monica voters for a special election and 6,200 to make the November 2004 ballot.

On November 12, the City Council will decide whether to adopt the initiative, set a special election for February or direct staff to study the measure, which focuses solely on homes in single-family residential zones. If the Council chooses the third alternative, it would then decide in December whether to adopt the measure or set an election for March 2003.

"Obviously the initiative was very popular," said Tom Larmore, the author of the measure and a Santa Monica homeowner for 27 years. "I think it would be in everybody's interest for the council to adopt it.

"The number of signatures on these petitions, plus many others that have come in since the petitions were turned in, make it clear that the Initiative has strong support in all parts of the City and among virtually all homeowners, particularly those who have lived in Santa Monica for many years," Larmore said.

The Initiative would also require a homeowner's permission to designate the home as a structure of merit or include it in a historic district.

Currently homeowners have no say when the Landmarks Commission designates their homes, although they can testify before the commission and appeal its ruling to the City Council.

Supporters argue that current City law -- which limits renovating and replacing designated homes -- unduly impinges on a homeowner's rights, while giving the Landmarks Commission the "unwarranted' power to impose restrictions, according to a statement filed with the City Clerk when the initiative was submitted in March.

Landmarks Commissioners have called the initiative -- which is similar to laws in Laguna Beach and Fullerton -- "political" and warned that if passed, it would erode Santa Monica's preservation efforts. Instead, they advocate searching for ways to give incentives and enhancements to homeowners.

Sponsors of the initiative waited until just hours before the six-month deadline last month to gather as many signatures as possible before submitting the signed petitions.

"We are extremely gratified with these results," said Greg Poirier, one of the three signers of the Initiative. "This was indeed a grassroots effort involving hundreds of hard-working volunteers and contributors over a six-month period."