La Habra Heights : 2 Initiative Petitions Filed

Members of a citizens group have filed petitions that would place two ballot initiatives before La Habra Heights voters later this year. One, an attempt to block a proposed widening of Hacienda Boulevard, would limit the width of all local roads to two lanes. The second would bar City Council members from serving more than two terms.

Elmer Brackett, president of M.O.R.L. (Maintain Our Rural Lifestyle) said his group gathered 870 signatures for the road initiative and 620 signatures for the term-limiting initiative. A minimum of 500 signatures is required for each, and they must be validated by the city clerk to be placed on the ballot.

The council last year approved a plan to straighten Hacienda Boulevard’s major curves and eventually widen the two-lane thoroughfare to four lanes. The project, which must be accepted and funded by the county to move forward, has stirred considerable controversy in this hilly bedroom community.

“We feel we have a very, very broad base of support,” said Brackett, who argued that the term restrictions are necessary to break up the council “machine” that becomes established when incumbents remain in office term after term.

If the petitions qualify, a special election would likely be held in early fall. The initiatives would take effect upon adoption, Brackett said.