Measure 37-like Initiative Defeated In Napa County, California

Measure A, the Fair Pay for Public Benefit Act, sponsored by the Napa Valley Land Stewards Alliance, received only 38% of the vote at press time.

A broad coalition of diverse groups, including environmentalists Greenbelt Alliance and Sierra Club, agricultural groups such as the Napa Valley Vintners Association and the Farm Bureau, and chambers of commerce, all claimed that the initiative "would have wrecked havoc on local land-use planning and produced a tidal wave of litigation that could drain funds from other programs."

Proponents claimed that the "county supervisors could avoid paying for the economic impact of a new ordinance or regulation either by getting the approval of voters, or by exempting property owners from new rules."

Mike Rodrigues, vice president of the Land Stewards Alliance, which had the support of the Napa County Republican Party, "said he would turn his attention to the statewide Protect Our Homes Initiative, which is expected to be on the November ballot. It would similarly require state and local agencies to pay land owners when new regulations reduce property values. Critics say the initiative would cripple land-use planning and efforts to protect the environment."

"The statewide initiative would also prohibit the use of eminent domain to transfer property from one private entity to another, as is now allowed."