Foes of home-building rules reach signature goal, they say Foes of home-building rules reach signature goal, they say (February 11, 2004)

By Rebecca Wallace

Almanac Staff Writer

Working against a February 12 deadline, Menlo Park residents seeking to overturn a new set of home-building rules announced February 9 that they'd already met their signature-gathering goal.

Planning Commissioner Kelly Fergusson, who's leading the effort, said the group had gathered more than 2,200 signatures of Menlo Park voters. By law, if 1,700 valid signatures are collected, the City Council must either repeal the rules or have the voters decide on a future ballot whether they should be rescinded. Ms. Fergusson said she hopes the council repeals them.

"As a city, we can and we should write a better ordinance," she said.

The exact number of signatures is not yet available because the petitions are still coming in from the 50 volunteers associated with her group, Citizens for Sensible Neighborhood Development, she said. The volunteers went door-to-door to collect signatures, and also sought them at the Sunday Farmers' Market and in front of local grocery stores.

The signatures must be verified by county elections officials; only registered voters may sign the petition.

The issue proved contentious in the city and split the council 3-2 when its members gave final approval to the rules earlier this year.

Last week, Mayor Lee Duboc and Councilman Nicholas Jellins held a press conference to urge people not to sign Ms. Fergusson's petition. Councilwoman Mickie Winkler is a major supporter of the rules, while councilmen Chuck Kinney and Paul Collacchi voted against them.

The rules set up a tiered, rule-based approach to the approval process for new homes and major remodels. Supporters say they make the process more fair and easier to navigate, while critics say the rules are too loose and don't protect against homes that are out of proportion with the neighborhood.

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