Newport Beach voters are set to vote on throwing out the city’s existing housing plan later this year for a new one with fewer new homes.

[Read: Newport Beach Voters to Decide on Taking Control of City’s Housing Plan]

Campaign finance disclosures reveal a notable twist: the ballot initiative efforts have been entirely financed by developer Ken Picerne, who donated $150,000 to help get the issue on the ballot.

Developers typically call on city officials throughout Orange County to allow more housing – a move that helps them increase profits on housing developments. 

But Picerne, CEO and founder of the Picerne Group, is going the opposite direction. 

A group called the Coalition of Responsible Housing drove the effort to get the initiative on the ballot and were exclusively funded by Picerne’s $150,000 donation, according to campaign finance disclosures.

Ultimately, the coalition spent around $130,000, most of which to pay people to get signatures for the petition, with over 6,100 signatures verified by the county registrar.  

Altogether, the coalition paid around $21 per signature they picked up from voters. 

Picerne did not return requests for comment, and hasn’t spoken about the issue publicly to the city council. 

In a statement to city officials, members of the Newport Beach Stewardship Association argued that the city’s existing housing plans goes against what voters approved back in 2000 to limit new construction throughout the city. 

“Our elected officials are failing to protect our community from development with massive height and density increase that our community has not approved,” wrote former Mayor Marshall Duffield in a statement on the petition. 

“This initiative thoughtfully balances responsible development in certain areas with protecting the environment, health and safety, and the quality of life for Newport Beach businesses and residents,” reads the statement. 

Picerne’s donation has raised questions from at least one city council member about what his motivations are in backing the new rules. 

“Why is the person that has the most apartments under construction funding a voter initiative to stop anyone else from building anything?” said Councilman Noah Blom, at the council’s Nov. 18 meeting. 

“It’s counterintuitive how many units are up in the airport district right now under construction from Mr. Ken Picerne, whose name was on the top of that ballot initiative.” 

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.