City Council Overrides Mayor's Veto of Supercenter Development Requirements

A veto of new requirements for supercenter developers didn't last long. Three days, in fact.

On Monday, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders vetoed a recently passed ordinance that requires developers to conduct extensive economic and community impact studies before a superstore can break ground in the city. On Thursday, the City Council overrode that decision.

The superstore ordinance had moved quickly through city offices. On Nov. 3, the City Council conducted a first reading of the ordinance that requires retailers larger than 90,000 square feet and which generate more than 10 percent of revenue from groceries to conduct additional studies in the application process. The City Council approved that ordinance on Nov. 16. Two weeks later, on Monday, Sanders vetoed it. And now, on Thursday, the City Council has flipped that decision.

The override passed on a 5-3 vote with Carl DeMaio, Kevin Falconer and Sherri Lightner dissenting. This trio opposed the ordinance in the first vote.

The vote was held just days before two members of the council who
support the ordinance, Donna Frye and Ben Hueso, leave office.

Councilman Todd Gloria, who proposed the ordinance, said the new law was designed to protect small business.

Many opponents of the ordinance protest that it affects only big-box retailers such as Walmart.

Sanders' office told Patch on Thursday that the mayor still maintains his position that this ordinance is unnecessary.

"I do not believe it is the city's role to determine where consumers may shop, or to provide a competitive advantage to certain retail businesses," Sanders wrote in a memo to City Council members. Sanders also claimed the ordinance sent a message that San Diego was not business-friendly.

An attempt at an outright ban on superstores failed three years ago. In 2007, the City Council approved an ordinance banning superstores, but Mayor Sanders later vetoed that decision too.

City News Service contributed to this article.