By Paul Rogers, Mercury News
November 8, 2006
Measure A, an initiative to place strict new building limits on vast expanses of ranch lands, hillsides and farms across Santa Clara County, was defeated by voters in Tuesday's election.
With 100 percent of the precincts tallied by 1:30 a.m. today, voters rejected the measure by a 51.1 percent to 48.9 percent margin.
“The voters of the county recognize that Measure A was deeply flawed and that even though many of the goals of Measure A were laudable, the means to the ends were problematic,'' said Andre Charles, campaign manager for the No on A effort.
Charles said a majority of voters appeared to agree with the message from farmers, ranchers and rural property owners that the new rules Measure A would impose were too strict, and would hamper the ability of farmers to construct buildings for their operations or build homes for their children.
“We had a better message and we got that message out,'' he said.
The measure would have affected roughly 400,000 acres in Santa Clara County -- about 50 percent of all the land in the county.
Measure A qualified for the Nov. 7 ballot after environmental groups supporting it, including the Sierra Club and Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, turned in more than 61,000 signatures.
Environmentalists and other supporters, including the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the League of Women Voters and former San Jose mayors Susan Hammer, Janet Gray Hayes and Tom McEnery, argued that tougher rules are needed to protect the county's remaining rural lands from urban sprawl.
Voters had approved similar measures in San Mateo County in 1986 and in Alameda County in 2000.
Many rural landowners countered that Measure A would harm them financially and hamper their ability to hand down family farms to their children by limiting their flexibility and the number of farm-related buildings they could construct. The measure was opposed by the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau, the County Cattlemen's Association and several real estate groups. Real estate interests provided roughly 75 percent of the No on A funding.
The 28-page measure called essentially for two big changes. First, it reduced the number of homes that could be built in rural areas of Santa Clara County that are outside city limits. On lands zoned for ranching, it allowed only one home per 160 acres, where up to eight are allowed now. On lands zoned as hillsides, it reduced the number of homes that could be built from eight per 160 acres to no more than four.
Its rules did not affect land in San Jose's Coyote Valley, within city limits or on Stanford's campus.
Measure A also limited the amount of square footage that could be built per parcel in areas zoned as ranch land, hillside or large-scale agricultural. And its rules reduced building on ridge lines.
The race triggered passionate campaigning from both sides. As of Oct. 21, the Yes on A campaign had raised $709,000, while No on A had raised $623,000.
Contact Paul Rogers at progers@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5045.