Voters to decide on two housing measures in March: Measures A and B

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – The housing crisis is one of the top priorities in California’s 2020 election cycle, and voters will find two housing measures on the county’s March Primary ballot. There will be others in November.

Measures A and B were put on the ballot, not by government officials, but by citizens through the initiative process.

As San Diego County’s population has grown, state and local officials have not been able to meet the demand for housing.

The housing that is being built is done in small increments and small projects because neighborhoods want to preserve their character and quality of life.

Measure A, also called the Safeguard Our San Diego Countryside Initiative, would require voters to approve some changes to the County’s general plan, changes that would increase residential density (the number of dwelling units in an area) in semi-rural and rural areas.

Supporters of the measure say this would protect rural areas from sprawl development. Arguments against Measure A say its loopholes and exemptions will not protect the backcountry and it will not give the control it promises.

Measure B, also known as the Newland Sierra Development Project, calls for 2,135 homes to built north of Escondido on land where the county’s blueprint for future development says only 99 homes should be allowed, plus about 2 million square feet of commercial.

The development would be built just west of interstate 15 north of deer springs road. This measure promises that at least 60 percent of the new homes are guaranteed by a legally-binding covenant to be affordably priced for working families.

Those against the project say the development does not actually guarantee affordable housing, and that promise can’t be enforced.

KUSI’s Steve Bosh has the details.