Yuba and Butte counties aren’t usually seen as political bellwethers for California. But their hard line on marijuana-related land use issues in the June election means that not everyone is in lockstep as the state progresses towards another statewide ballot measure that could legalize recreational marijuana.
Yuba County voters soundly rejected two pro-marijuana measures: one that would have legalized cultivation and another that simply would have legalized medical marijuana dispensaries, which are already common throughout the state. Meanwhile, Butte County approved two anti-marijuana measures, one that excludes the crop from the county’s “right to farm ordinance” and another that places explicit restrictions on its cultivation. Add to these measures an overwhelming defeat of a measure to include marijuana dispensaries among San Jose’s land use designations.
Butte County voters made it harder to pull something else out of the ground: hydrocarbons. Voters there overwhelmingly approved a ban on hydraulic fracturing, 71 percent to 29 percent.
Rounding out voters’ opinions on au courant topics, Nevada County voters broke with a recent trend to limit short-term rentals. They defeated a measure that would have beefed up an existing city ordinance regulating STRs.
Among more traditional issues, multiyear trends held sway. Voters in San Francisco approved funding for open and recreational space, and they continued their trend, from last November, of supporting affordable housing. An infrastructure measures passed in the City of San Diego. And the nine counties of the Bay Area soundly approved, 69.3 to 30.7 percent, a parcel tax to protect the ecosystem of the San Francisco Bay and mitigate the effects of climate change on it. The measure required a two-thirds majority. A rare multi-county effort, the measure had backing from such diverse groups as Save the Bay, Audubon Society, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Bay Area Council, PG&E, Google, and Facebook. Some property rights group opposed the measure, in part because they felt that areas without much bay frontage should not pay the same rate as other areas.
Of several planning and development questions on local ballots, only one was a clear victory for pro-growth interests : a small housing development in Pleasanton. Results in El Dorado County were mixed. Measure E, designed to reduce the board of supervisor’s powers of discretionary approval, passed. Measure G, arguably even less friendly to development, failed; it would have expanded open spaces rules to restrict development near agricultural lands. Both are the latest volleys in a longstanding debate about growth in the county. In 2014 voters rejected a trio of growth-control measures, which themselves were responses to a 2004 decision to uphold a relatively permissive 1996 general plan update that was restricted by a 1999 court order.
In Dana Point, a council-sponsored measure to guide growth of the city’s village-like downtown lost out to a more restrictive citizen-led initiative.
The following are complete results, with vote tallies that were available as of press time.
Pleasanton (Alameda County) Measure K
Lund Ranch Development Project Referendum
Shall the Lund Ranch project in Southeast Pleasanton, which consists of 43 single-family homes on approximately 17 acres and 174 acres for permanent public open space and 2 miles of public trails, be approved?
Approved
Yes 6,852 50.94%
No 6,598 49.06%
Butte County Measure E
Fracking Ban Initiative
Shall the ordinance entitled "Ordinance Imposing a Ban on Hydraulic Fracturing Within Butte County" be adopted?"
Approved
Yes 34,772 71.54%
No 13,836 28.46%
Butte County Measure G
Marijuana Exclusion from Right-to-Farm Ordinance Referendum
Shall Ordinance No. 4106, an Ordinance of the County of Butte amending Sections 35-2 and 35-5 to Chapter 35 of the Butte County Code entitled the "Right to Farm Ordinance" be adopted? This measure would clarify that the cultivation of marijuana is not an agricultural operation that is subject to the benefits of Chapter 35 of the Butte County Code, known as the “Right to Farm Ordinance.”
Approved
Yes 27,952 59.47%
No 19,053 40.53%
Butte County Measure H
Restrictions on Cultivation of Medical Marijuana Referendum
Shall Ordinance No. 4107, an Ordinance of the County of Butte amending Sections 34A-2, 34A-3, 34A-4, 34A-13, 34A-16 AND 34A-19 of Chapter 34A of the Butte County Code, entitled "Restrictions on Cultivation of Medical Marijuana" be adopted?
Approved
Yes 28,218 58.54%
No 19,982 41.46%
Richmond (Contra Costa County), Measure N
Riviera Residential Development Initiative
Shall the ordinance to amend the Richmond General Plan 2030 to allow a 59 unit single family detached project on a site south of the intersection of Marina Way South and Hall and approve a development agreement and related actions be adopted?
Rejected
Yes 4,009 34.35%
No 7,663 65.65%
El Dorado County Measure E
Road and Traffic Congestion Policies Initiative
Shall the ordinance be adopted amending the El Dorado County General Plan to (1) change when and how El Dorado County mitigates impacts to traffic levels of service, (2) impose restrictions on use of tax revenue and mitigation fees and on formation of infrastructure financing districts, and (3) require El Dorado County to make findings of compliance with those policies prior to approving any residential development project of five or more units, as more fully described in the proposed ordinance?
Approved
Yes 24,487 51.81%
No 22,776 48.19%
El Dorado County Measure G
Land Use and Zoning Policies Initiative
Shall the ordinance be adopted to (1) add, amend, or delete fifteen distinct policies in the El Dorado County General Plan concerning land use, agriculture, mixed use, cultural and historical resources, and water supply and (2) preclude El Dorado County from approving any future discretionary project until it implements twelve enumerated General Plan policies related to community design guidelines, cultural and historical resources, water supply, and scenic corridors, as more fully described in the proposed ordinance?
Rejected
Yes 22,964 48.76%
No 24,132 51.24%
Lassen County
51st State of Jefferson State Split Advisory Question
Advisory vote on forming State of Jefferson.
Rejected
Yes 2,288 42.26%
No 3,126 57.74%
Redondo Beach (Los Angeles County) Measure K
Residential Care Facilities Amendment
Shall the City approve amendments to the City Charter, General Plan, Coastal Land Use Plan, and Coastal Zoning Ordinance to conditionally allow residential care facilities for the elderly in the P-CF zoning district on properties over one acre in the Coastal Zone pursuant to a request from the School District to rezone surplus school property?
Approved
Yes 8,271 64.55%
No 4,542 35.45%
Pomona (Los Angeles County) Measure Y
Billboard Zoning Ordinance Amendment
Shall the Pomona zoning ordinance be amended to authorize the installation of outdoor advertising signs within specific freeway adjacent corridors and to impose planning regulations and restrictions concerning the number and location of the outdoor advertising signs, and to establish development fees to be paid to the City of Pomona in an amount of $1 million for each billboard installed?
Rejected
Yes 6,819 48.25%
No 7,313 51.75%
Nevada County Measure W
Voter-Approved Outdoor Marijuana Cultivation Ban
Shall an ordinance be adopted which (a) bans outdoor cultivation, commercial cultivation and other commercial cannabis activities, (b) limits indoor cultivation to 12 plants per parcel in residential and rural areas, (c) prohibits indoor marijuana cultivation in unpermitted structures and areas used or intended for human occupancy, and (d) allows marijuana cultivation only by qualified patients and primary caregivers and only for medicinal purposes?
Rejected
Yes 11,585 42.23%
No 15,845 57.77%
Nevada City (Nevada County) Measure Y
Short-Term Home Rental Ordinance
Shall the recently enacted hosted short-term rental regulations resulting from adoption by the City Council of Nevada City of a prior voter initiative (effective January 8, 2016) be repealed and replaced with the more restrictive provisions of an alternative voter initiative permitting on-line type home-sharing short-term rentals of two units in a single-family residence or small guest house only if the owner occupies the main dwelling and off-street parking is provided and making related General Plan amendments?
Rejected
Yes 400 34.69%
No 753 65.31%
Dana Point (Orange County) Measure I
Town Center and Public Parking City Council Referral
Shall the Town Center and Public Parking Improvement Measure, which ratifies the Town Center Plan previously approved by the City Council and the California Coastal Commission, as well as the amendments thereto approved by the City Council in 2015, be adopted?
Rejected
Yes 3,251 41.05%
No 4,669 58.95%
Dana Point (Orange County) Measure I
Town Center and Public Parking City Council Referral
Shall the Town Center and Public Parking Improvement Measure, which ratifies the Town Center Plan previously approved by the City Council and the California Coastal Commission, as well as the amendments thereto approved by the City Council in 2015, be adopted?
Rejected
Yes 3,251 41.05%
No 4,669 58.95%
City of San Diego (San Diego County) Proposition H
Infrastructure Fund Establishment Amendments
Shall the Charter be amended to require certain unrestricted General Fund revenues to be deposited in an Infrastructure Fund used exclusively to pay for capital improvements including streets, sidewalks, bridges, bike paths, storm water and drainage systems; public buildings including libraries, recreational and community centers; public safety facilities including police, fire and lifeguard stations; and park facilities, but expressly not used for new convention center facilities and new professional sports venues?
Approved
Yes 109,768 64.63%
No 60,063 35.37%
City of San Diego (San Diego County)
One Paseo Development Project Veto Referendum
A referendum on the contentious One Paseo development qualified for the June 7. The city council pre-empted the popular vote by rescinding the targeted project ordinance directly.
San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority Measure AA (Nine Counties)
'Clean and Healthy Bay' Parcel Tax
To protect San Francisco Bay for future generations by reducing trash, pollution and harmful toxins, improving water quality, restoring habitat for fish, birds and wildlife, protecting communities from floods, and increasing shoreline public access, shall the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority authorize a parcel tax of $12 per year, raising approximately $25 million annually for twenty years with independent citizen oversight, audits, and all funds staying local? Asked in Alameda, Contra Costa, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties.
Approved (required two-thirds supermajority)
Yes 826,352 69.32%
No 365,650 30.68%
City & County of San Francisco Proposition B
Park, Recreation, and Open Space Fund Charter Amendment
Shall the City amend the Charter to extend the Park, Recreation and Open Space Fund until 2046 and give the Recreation and Park Department each year a minimum baseline amount from the General Fund in addition to the Fund set-aside of2 1/2 cents for each $100 of assessed property value?
Approved
Yes 101,816 60.35%
No 66,901 39.65%
City & County of San Francisco Proposition C
Affordable Housing Requirements Charter Amendment
Shall the City amend the Charter to increase affordable housing requirements for private developers of new market-rate housing projects of 25 or more units until the Board of Supervisors passes an ordinance changing those requirements and also authorize the Board of Supervisors to change affordable housing requirements by ordinance?
Approved
Yes 113,129 67.27%
No 55,049 32.73%
City of San Jose (Santa Clara County) Measure C
Medical Marijuana Collectives Initiative
Shall an ordinance be adopted amending the San Jose Municipal Code to include Medical Marijuana Collectives as an allowed land use in agricultural, commercial pedestrian, commercial neighborhood, industrial park, light industrial, heavy industrial zoning districts, and certain planned development zoning districts, and to establish a registration process and zoning code verification certificate process?
Rejected
Yes 44,506 35.13%
No 82,180 64.87%
Davis (Yolo County), Measure A
Nishi Property Land Use Designation and Development Project
A yes vote is a vote in favor of changing the land use designation for the Nishi property from Agriculture to University-Related Research Park and establishing requirements for the residential and mixed-use development of the Nishi property
Rejected
Yes 7,395 49.01%
No 7,693 50.99%
Yuba County Measure A
Medical Marijuana Cultivation Act of 2015
Shall the ordinance that would increase the number of medical marijuana plants that may be cultivated on parcels of land greater than one acre and allow for cultivation of medical marijuana outdoors and within residences be adopted?
Rejected
Yes 3,139 36.17%
No 5,539 63.83%
Yuba County Measure B
Patients Access to Regulated Medical Cannabis Act of 2015
Shall the ordinance that authorizes licenses medical marijuana dispensaries that will provide medical marijuana to qualified patients and primary caregivers in a retail setting be adopted?
Rejected
Yes 3,728 43.03%
No 4,935 56.97%
