By Niki Cervantes
Staff Writer

May 3, 2016 -- Organizers for a proposed initiative that could sharply cut new development in Santa Monica announced Monday they have collected 10,000 signatures, far more than needed to help earn LUVE a spot on the ballot in November.

"Wow. We did it!” the leaders of Residocracy, the slow-growth group sponsoring the Land Use Voter Empowerment (LUVE) initiative, said in a message to supporters.

Organizers said the signed petitions will be submitted later this week to the Santa Monica City Clerk’s Office. The signatures will then go the Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office for final verification.

At least 6,500 valid signatures are needed for LUVE to qualify for a November vote.

Although petitions don’t need to be submitted to the City Clerk’s Office for verification until May 20 at the earliest, LUVE organizers set a second self-imposed deadline of Sunday after having failed to meet an initial deadline in early April ("Santa Monica Slow-Growth Group Extend Petition Deadline," April 7, 2016).

Armen Melkonians, the founder of Residocracy, said an intensified drive for signatures this weekend brought the stack of petitions tall enough to warrant a trip to the City Clerk.

If approved by voters, LUVE would require a public vote if the City Council approves development projects taller than two stories, as well as for proposed developments that exceed zoning standards and therefore require a special development agreement with the City.

A public vote also would be needed to change City documents that guide land use policy and planning.

Affordable and moderate-income housing is exempted from LUVE, as are projects that are 100 percent senior citizen housing and single-unit dwellings.

In a city known for its political wars over development, LUVE is particularly controversial. Developers themselves have remained by and large quiet, but a group has been formed to oppose the proposed measure and Council members have publicly stated their opposition.

Neighborhood groups and others in the slow-growth camp are providing much of the support for LUVE. The initiative was sparked by a number of high-rise developments proposed for Santa Monica.

Although grassroots initiatives like LUVE usually face uphill battles, Residocracy has shown it can rally public support. Two years ago, the organization collected more than 13,500 signatures calling for a ballot measure challenging the council's approval of the proposed Bergamot Transit Village ("Slow-Growth Advocate Claim Battle Over Controversial Santa Monica Development," May 15, 2014).

The council subsequently reversed its earlier vote to approve the project after enough signatures were verified by the County Registrar to qualify the referendum for the ballot.

The council subsequently reversed its earlier vote to approve the project after enough signatures were verified by the County Registrar to qualify the referendum for the ballot.

Correction: May 4, 2016
An earlier version of this article misstated that the council subsequently reversed its earlier vote to approve the project before signatures could be verified by the County Registrar. The council subsequently reversed its earlier vote to approve the project after enough signatures were verified.