Local activist Kevin Rice has announced that he is organizing a committee and seeking contributions to support a referendum election to overturn any anticipated vote by the SLO City Council to overrule the Airport Land Use Commission’s (ALUC) findings. The ALUC’s findings suggest that the proposed Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) of the city’s General Plan are inconsistent with the current Airport Land Use Plan. Other California cities have taken similar steps to ensure land uses are compatible with future airport operations and secure resident safety and long-term planning goals. On October 21 the SLO City Council failed to find a majority vote to overrule the ALUC’s recommendations, halting further action to adopt the draft LUCE which was anticipated at that same meeting. Should the city council bring back the discussion of an override on December 2 – after newly elected councilmember Dan Rivoire is seated – proponents of the referendum would have 30 days to qualify. If an override occurs and is appealed, it would invalidate portions of the LUCE, tossing out years of technical analysis and community input and jeopardize infrastructure and development in long identified areas of the city. The referendum petition would require no less than 10 percent of the city’s nearly 25,000 registered voters and could be proposed to city voters as early as January 2015.