Los Angeles Times subscribers might have noticed little sticky Post-It-size ads on their papers the past couple of weeks, with provocative messages: One had Los Angeles City Hall with a “for sale” sign stamped over it; another with the line “Developer Greed is Choking LA.”

For those who bothered to peel those off and turn them over, they found out the ads were for the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative, now aiming for the March 2017 ballot. That’s the initiative backed by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which is seeking to crack down on zoning variances granted to major development projects.

So why the ad campaign a full 11 months before the targeted election date?

John Schwada, spokesman for initiative, said the effort – which also includes about a half-dozen billboards – has two purposes. First, it’s an attempt to “clear the air” about the initiative. Originally, it had been proposed for the November ballot; last month its backers abruptly switched gears and targeted the March 2017 ballot and said the initiative language would be tweaked.

“We want to let everyone know that this initiative hasn’t disappeared, that it’s still very much alive,” Schwada said.

The other reason: to raise awareness among Angelenos so that “when they see our signature gatherers, they won’t be taken by surprise.” Those signature gatherers are expected to take their places in front of grocery stores later this spring, just after the current signature-gathering crunch to meet deadlines for the November ballot.

Community Plans

Speaking of development in Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti earlier this month pledged $1.5 million in his proposed 2016-17 budget to speed up the updating of the city’s 35 community plans, a process that has dragged on for years.

Community plans lay out guidelines for what can and cannot be built in any given neighborhood. Both developers and development opponents say current plans are way out of date; developers say they fail to account for the need for more dense projects, while opponents say too many projects are getting variances because the plans are inadequate.

Garcetti’s budget allocation calls for all 35 plans to be updated within three years.

One local land-use attorney who often represents developers seeking city approvals for their projects said that while the updates are long overdue, they alone won’t solve L.A.’s development wars.

“This does not mean that the entitlement process will suddenly become easy,” said Dale Goldsmith, partner at Armbruster Goldsmith & Delvac in West Los Angeles. “Most projects will still require some sort of discretionary action that will trigger environmental review and a public process where opponents of development can weigh in. Land-use lawyers will not suddenly become an endangered species.”

Board Battle

The Los Angeles County Business Federation, or BizFed, is objecting to an attempt by state Senate President Kevin de Leon to remake the board of the region’s air pollution regulator, the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

De Leon, upset by the district board’s firing of longtime Executive Officer Barry Wallerstein last month and the approval in December of changes to a cap-and-trade air pollution control plan, wants to add three appointees to the 13-member board – one public health expert and two environmental justice advocates.

“After decades of bipartisan support for clean air in our region, an effort began last year to install an anti-clean air majority on the board,” de Leon said. “Now, they are in control of the board and pushing an agenda that harms the health of children and families. For their sake we cannot afford to turn back the clock on our clean-air regulations.”

But BizFed vehemently opposes de Leon’s bill.

“Unfortunately, SB 1387 would stack the SCAQMD Governing Board with hand-picked political appointees and representing a single constituency,” BizFed Chief Executive Tracy Rafter wrote in a letter opposing the bill. “This would completely undermine the tradition of ensuring communities affected by these rules have the primary say in making them.”

The bill cleared the Senate environmental quality committee last week.

Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 227.