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3. Initiative's Proposed General Plan Amendments The Initiative proposes two new policies for the General Plan, one regarding hillside development regulations and the second defining a housing unit, as follows: Policy 12.3: Ridgelines and hillsides shall be protected. Housing units and structures shall not be placed on slopes of 25 percent or greater, or within 100 vertical feet of a ridgeline. No grading to construct residential or commercial structures shall occur on hillside slopes 25% or greater, or within 100 vertical feet of a ridgeline. Exempt from this policy are housing developments of 10 or fewer housing units on a single property that was, as of January 1, 2007, "legal parcel" pursuant to the California Subdivision Map law. Splitting, dividing orsub-dividing a "legal parcel" of January 1, 2007 to approve more than 10 housing units is not allowed. Policy 15.3: A housing unit is defined to include any residence that includes a kitchen (sink, cooking device, and refrigerator) and a bathroom (toilet, tub or shower). The City Council shall uphold the housing cap and shall not grant waivers that exclude housing units consistent with this definition. (See Exhibit A.) In addition, the Initiative includes a purpose statement, as well as a list of five reasons for the circulation of the Initiative.Z 4. Elections Code §9212 Elements: 4.1. Effect on Land Use, Location of Housing, and Ability to Meet Regional Needs Hillside Areas: If adopted, the Initiative would reduce the number of housing units which could be built on hillside properties. This reduction would result by the Initiative's policy prohibiting building new houses on land with slopes of 25% or greater and/or within 100 vertical feet of a ridgeline. However, the overall citywide impact concerning this policy is likely limited for the following reasons3: A. Several hillside properties have development potential for fewer than ten units under the existing General Plan mid-point density, so they could continue to be developed with the same number of units as exempt under the Initiative. 2 The purpose statement and reasons for the circulation of the Initiative are not part of the Initiative itself, but provide guidance for purposes of interpreting the text of the Initiative. s The analysis in this section presumes that properties which develop ten or fewer housing units are exempt from Policy 12.3 of the Initiative, as expressly set forth in the Initiative. An expanded discussion of the applicability of this exemption can be found in Sections 5.1 and 5.11, below. 4