ENCINITAS — In a result that will reshape Encinitas land-use politics for years to come, voters approved Proposition A on Tuesday, enshrining in the city's municipal code a requirement that any increase to existing zoning density or building heights above two stories or 30 feet must receive voter approval. The citizen-led initiative passed by a comfortable margin.
The measure was born out of frustration with what supporters saw as a trend toward denser development without adequate community input. Proponents argued that Encinitas residents — not the City Council acting alone — should have the final say on how their neighborhoods grow and change. The initiative was placed on the ballot through a citizen-led petition drive.
Supporters gathered in Leucadia to mark the result. Campaign organizers declared that the people of Encinitas had spoken clearly: they want a seat at the table when decisions are made about the future of their neighborhoods. The measure, they said, gives them that seat.
Implications for Housing
Critics of Proposition A warned that the provision could put Encinitas on a collision course with the State of California, which requires cities to plan for new housing through the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process. Opponents argued that requiring voter approval for density increases could make it nearly impossible for the city to adopt a state-compliant Housing Element, since the plan would need to go to the ballot rather than simply being approved by the City Council.
Housing advocates cautioned that the measure would make Encinitas one of very few cities in California where a Housing Element would need to go before voters, and predicted costly legal battles ahead. Those predictions proved prescient: the city would go on to see its Housing Element rejected by voters twice (Measure T in 2016 and Measure U in 2018) before a court ordered the city to adopt one in 2019.
For supporters, however, Proposition A represented a fundamental statement about local democracy. The tension between voter control and state housing mandates that the measure created would become the defining political issue in Encinitas for over a decade.