The People of the County of Orange hereby ordain and enact as follows:
Section One: TITLE
This Initiative shall be known and may be cited as The Safe
and Healthy Communities Initiative.
Section Two: PURPOSE AND FINDINGS
The People of the County of Orange find and declare their rights in the following:
A. The People of Orange County, not politicians, should make the decisions, by a two-thirds vote, on new or expanded jail, hazardous waste landfill, and airport projects since these projects affect the health and safety of our neighborhoods and communities. This Initiative puts those decisions in the hands of the voters.
B. Politicians should not be able to make big expenditures of our taxpayer money on those projects without our vote. This Initiative prevents that spending of our taxes without our consent.
C. No Orange County neighborhood should be forced to accept these projects unless there is wide agreement that they are necessary. This Initiative makes sure that those projects can’t be approved unless we agree.
D. We deserve and expect communities that are safe and healthy. This Measure will help keep them that way and protect residents in every part of Orange County.
E. In order to accomplish these purposes and secure these
rights, the enactment of this Initiative is necessary and appropriate.
Section Three: LIMITS ON BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ APPROVALS
AND REQUIREMENT FOR VOTER RATIFICATION
No act by the County of Orange to approve any new or expanded
jail, hazardous waste landfill, or civilian airport project shall be valid
and effective unless also subsequently ratified by a two-thirds vote of
the voters voting at a County General Election.
Section Four: LIMITS ON COUNTY EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS
Funds may be expended by the County of Orange as necessary
for the planning of any project listed in Section Three and for the submission
of an approved project to the voters for ratification as required herein,
but only upon a vote of the Board of Supervisors after public hearing and
only to the extent necessary (A) to define the project; (B) to prepare
an environmental impact report or other documentation for the project required
by the California Environmental Quality Act, commencing with Section 21000
of the Public Resources Code; (C) for the evaluation and certification
of such an environmental impact report or documentation; (D) for
the hearing or hearings required by Section Five of this Measure and other
law, and for approval of the project; (E) for the placement of the
approved project thereafter on the ballot of a County General Election
for the vote of the People required by this Initiative; and (F) as
may otherwise be required by state or federal law. The Board of Supervisors
may expend no other funds for any other purposes relating to any such project,
until and unless the act by the County to approve the project is ratified
by the voters as required by Section Three.
Section Five: REQUIREMENT FOR PUBLIC HEARINGS
Before any act by the County of Orange to approve any project
listed in Section Three, the Board of Supervisors shall hold, with widespread
public notice, at least one public hearing in each Orange County City that
would be affected by the project. This hearing or hearings shall
be held following the preparation, evaluation and certification of the
environmental impact report or environmental documentation required for
the project.
Section Six: DEFINITIONS
For purposes of this Initiative, the following definitions shall govern:
A. “Act by the County of Orange to approve” includes, but is not limited to, any legislative action by the Board of Supervisors, in whatever capacity, enacting, adopting, amending, approving, or authorizing any general plan, zoning ordinance, specific plan, development agreement, airport master or master development plan, airport system master plan, management agreement, acquisition or conveyance of land, lease, license, financing decision (including a grant, subsidy, loan, or other form of financial assistance), the formation of any other governmental or quasi-governmental entity, the formation of any non-profit entity, and any other legislative action to permit or facilitate any of the following:
(1) the design or construction of any new jail, new hazardous waste landfill, or new civilian airport;
(2) the physical expansion of any existing hazardous waste landfill beyond its current legally permissible and authorized boundaries, or an increase in the amount of hazardous waste such a facility may receive above its current legally permissible and authorized limits;
(3) the operation of any existing civilian airport beyond its current legally permissible and authorized level of operations;
(4) the physical expansion of the facilities of any existing civilian airport beyond their current and legally authorized size, where such expansion would permit a level of civilian operations greater than that which is currently permissible and authorized;
(5) an expansion or change in operations at any existing airport, whether military or civilian, that increases the amount or changes the type of civilian, or joint civilian and military, cargo operations; or
(6) the physical expansion of any existing jail that provides additional beds for persons confined therein; provided, however, that no provision of this Initiative shall apply to any expansion of an existing jail where the expansion has been approved in a Stipulation and Judgment either by the City in which the jail is located or by each affected City and where the expansion is consistent with the Stipulation and Judgment. For purposes of this Initiative, “each affected City” shall mean each City located within one-half mile of the jail.
The ratification requirements of Section Three of this Initiative and these definitions govern and are intended to apply only to the extent that the act by the County of Orange to approve is a legislative act that may be subjected to a vote of the People pursuant to Article II, Section 11 of the California Constitution.
B. “Jail” shall mean any building or building complex designated by the County to be regularly used for the confinement of persons held in lawful custody that will contain, or already contains, 1,000 beds or more for such persons, where such building or complex, or any portion of the property on which it is located, is within one-half mile or less of one hundred or more residential dwelling units.
C. “Hazardous waste” shall have the same meaning as specified in Health and Safety Code Section 25117; and “hazardous waste landfill” shall have the same meaning as specified in Health and Safety Code Section 25114.
D. “Civilian airport” shall mean any commercial air passenger or cargo airport in Orange County, including John Wayne Airport and any proposed civilian airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station or the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center, and any airport with joint civilian and military passenger or cargo use.
Section Seven: CONSTRUCTION
Nothing in this Initiative is intended to diminish or otherwise alter the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, commencing with Section 21000 of the Public Resources Code, applicable to any act by the County of Orange to approve a project prior to submission of the act to the voters for ratification. Nothing in this Initiative is intended to diminish or otherwise alter the requirements of any other state or federal law governing such approval or consideration of such a project by the County of Orange.
The ratification requirements of this Initiative are intended to apply to any act by the County of Orange to approve a project listed in Section Three, even where some other act previously has been taken by the County or its voters relating to the project, including the enactment of the Orange County/El Toro Economic Stimulus Initiative (Measure A) by the voters on November 8, 1994, or any subsequent approvals or actions relating thereto.
The provisions of this Initiative shall prevail over any conflicting
provisions of any legislation by the Orange County Board of Supervisors
that was enacted between the date the Notice of Intention to propose this
Initiative was submitted to the Orange County Clerk and the date this Initiative
is adopted by the People.
Section Eight: SEVERABILITY
If any provision of this Initiative or the application thereof is held invalid by a court, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the Initiative which can be given effect without the invalid provision, and to this end the provisions of this Initiative are severable.
The People of Orange County find and declare that this Initiative would be adopted with or without the two-thirds ratification vote requirement of Section Three. As a result, if a court holds that requirement invalid, the Initiative shall instead be construed as requiring a majority vote for ratification.
In addition, if a conflict exists between this Initiative
and any other measure which is approved by the voters at the same election,
the provisions of this Initiative shall take effect except to the extent
they are in direct conflict with the provisions of such other measure and
that measure receives a greater number of votes.
Section Nine: AMENDMENT
This Initiative may be amended only by a vote of the People at a County General Election.