Shasta County Freeze on Zoning in Churn Creek Bottom, Measure B (June 2012)
An initiative to Freeze Zoning in Churn Creek Bottom, Measure B was on the June 5, 2012 ballot in Shasta County, where it was defeated.[1]
If Measure B had been approved, it would have frozen the general plan in the Churn Creek Bottom until 2036. This would have prevented any commercial development in the area until then.[2]
In August 2011, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors gave the go-ahead for a commercial development on Knighton Road in Churn Creek Bottom.[3] The motivation to put the zoning freeze on the June 5, 2012 ballot sprang from that decision.[1] That August 11 decision also inspired its opponents to put Measure A on the June 5, 2012 ballot.
Election results
| Measure B | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 No | 31,398 | 71.24% | ||
| Yes | 12,678 | 28.76% | ||
- These final election results are from the Shasta County elections office.
Support
Measure B was supported by the Churn Creek Bottom Homeowners and Friends Association. Rod Evans is a spokesperson for this group. He said, "What we knew is that even if Measure A prevails (allowing Hawkins to proceed), it won't be very long until another developer is knocking on the door and wants to do the same thing. We looked at what could give the community some breathing room without this development pressure."
Randy Carter also supported Measure B. He says, "We're hoping for it to take the pressure off our leaders who have to make the decision that they've recently made."
Marsha Burch, lawyer in Grass Valley, helped write Measure B.[4]
Opposition
Opponents of Measure B included Doug Juenke. He was the chairman of the "No on Measure B" committee, as well as being the president of the Shasta Association of Realtors. He said, "This is a pure, flat-out assault on private property rights. It's just not American that we are going to suffer no consequences one way or another and we get to tell another group of people what they get to do with their property."
Another opponent was Bob Moore. He owns Moore's Flour Mill. He owns 75 acres in Churn Creek Bottom. He wants to build a water-powered mill on that property that would grind flour and also be a tourist attraction. He would not have been able to do this if Measure B had been approved. He said, "My position is that I woke up one morning to discover that my neighbors put my farm on the ballot for the people of Shasta County to vote on what I can or can't do with it, and I think that is a very strong property rights issue." He also says, "[Measure B is] being represented as being supportive of agriculture, but it really is only supportive of a really narrow interpretation of agriculture."
Reporting on a debate over Measures A and B held at the Destiny Fellowship church in Redding on April 30, a local newspaper wrote, "private property rights punctuated much of the night, with audience members applauding those who called it un-American."[4]
Path to the ballot
The initiative was on the ballot because county residents who wanted zoning frozen in Churn Creek Bottom collected over 11,000 signatures on petitions to force a vote on the development.[1]
The same residents also qualified a veto referendum, the Referendum on Knighton Road Development in Churn Creek Bottom, for the June 5, 2012 ballot.
External links
- Knighton and Churn Creek Commons Retail Center development proposal
- Churn Creek Bottom Homeowner's Association
- Website of Hawkins Cos., LLC
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Redding Record Searchlight, "Editorial: County celebrates direct democracy by exercising it," December 31, 2011
- ↑ Record-Searchlight, "Measure of uncertainty: Landowners, potential developers try to sort out consequences of ballot issue," April 26, 2012
- ↑ Redding Record Searchlight, "Churn Creek Bottom: resisting development; more than 11,000 sign petition against shopping center," October 29, 2011
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 [http://www.redding.com/news/2012/may/01/debate-gets-heated/ Redding Record Searchlight, "Redding debate gets heated Homeowners, developer clash over Churn Creek project," May 1, 2012]
