Carlsbad

Eager to limit the number of homes built in Carlsbad each year, slow-growth advocates presented a petition with 5,100 signatures to city officials Monday in hopes of putting an initiative on the November ballot.

The city clerk now has 30 days to verify whether the petition, sponsored by two citizens groups, has the necessary 2,491 signatures of registered Carlsbad voters to qualify for the ballot.

If approved, the ballot measure would restrict the number of homes that could be built in Carlsbad to 1,000 in 1987, 750 the next year and 500 in each of the following eight years.

Nelson Aldrich, a co-sponsor of the initiative drive, said the more than 5,000 signatures was the largest number ever collected on a petition drive in the city.

Carlsbad residents, he said, are “fed up” with rampant growth in the city. In recent years, residents have watched city officials approve more than 2,000 homes annually.