HOLLYWOOD >> Measure S, the sweeping slow-growth measure that aimed to push pause on big building projects across Los Angeles, was trailing in early election returns Tuesday.
By 10 p.m., the no vote led by 59.6 percent to 40.4 percent, with 4 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office.
“There has been a citywide movement about development,” said Michael Weinstein, head of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the biggest backer of Measure S, on Tuesday night at the Yes on S headquarters in Hollywood.
After the grim returns, he added, “A movement has been born ... if the opposition thinks we are going away, think twice.”
For the City of Angels, the land-use initiative is a referendum on planning, neighborhood character and developers’ so-called “pay-to-play” influence at City Hall. It’s also a vote on whether L.A. should grow up — especially near transit stops — or leave traditional low-slung neighborhoods alone.
Not since Proposition U was overwhelmingly approved by voters to slow the growth of high rises in 1986 has development experienced such a populist backlash.
Nearly $10 million had been spent to persuade voters to support or oppose the measure, which seeks to end so-called “spot zoning” — the common practice of granting builders exceptions to rules regulating height, density, parking and more.
Supporters, from Weinstein to former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, said it would rein in rampant “mega-developments” that spur luxury high-rises over affordable rents, while clogging streets with parked cars and traffic.
Opponents, including Mayor Eric Garcetti and a coalition of labor unions, developers and business and housing advocates, said Measure S would kill housing construction, including $1.2 billion in homeless housing paid for by the recently approved Proposition HHH.
They warned voters that the measure, which would cost thousands of construction jobs, could also push Los Angeles into another economic recession.
Meanwhile, boosters of come-from-behind neighborhoods such as Panorama City and South Los Angeles said any shot at economic development would be killed by restrictive growth.
“This is very early. It’s a very promising start. We are encouraged by the early returns. The coalition that has stood together to defeat this measure reached into every corner of Los Angeles,” said Josh Joy Kamensky, of the Coalition to Protect L.A. Jobs and Neighborhoods.
The growth measure even drew statewide and national attention.
“This not only will alleviate the housing shortage through the creation of affordable rental units for lower income workers, but also spur economic development in Los Angeles,” said Beth Mullen, national director of affordable housing industry practice for CohnReznick, a national accounting firm for property owners and developers, in a statement.
No matter what the tally when all the votes are in, supporters of the measure say they will fight on.
“This is about love,” Weinstein told a room packed with campaign workers. “Love for the city. Love for our neighborhoods. Love for a way of life ... We’re not going to let that go.”
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