Carlsbad

A Carlsbad citizens’ group has agreed to appeal a Superior Court judge’s decision that dashed their efforts to enact a slow-growth initiative that got a majority vote in November but was declared a loser.

Members of Concerned Citizens, the grass-roots organization that sponsored the ballot measure, decided during a meeting Wednesday night to appeal the April 21 ruling by Judge David Moon.

The slow-growth measure, Proposition G, garnered 51.5% of the vote in the Nov. 4 election, but the Carlsbad City Council refused to adopt it because a rival ballot measure, Proposition E, got more votes.

Proposition E, which was backed by the council, included a stipulation that, if both propositions passed, the one receiving the most votes would prevail. Under that so-called “killer clause,” Proposition E was the victor with 57.9% of the vote.

Members of Concerned Citizens insisted that a killer clause can only be used if the two measures conflict, which they felt was not the case. But Moon ruled that the measures in fact were in conflict with one another and that the killer clause was correctly implemented by Carlsbad officials.

Proposition G proposed limiting construction of dwelling units in the city to 1,000 in 1987, 750 in 1988 and 500 in each subsequent year through 1996. Proposition E is designed to ensure that public facilities such as streets and parks keep pace with development.