Carlsbad

A Carlsbad citizens group turned in a petition with more than 4,500 signatures Monday in an effort to put an initiative on the November ballot requiring a two-thirds vote to develop open space.

The measure needs 3,157 signatures of Carlsbad voters to qualify for the ballot, according to members of Save Open Space, the grassroots group backing the effort.

If the initiative makes the ballot, City Council members have promised, they will sponsor a competing measure. They argue that the citizen effort would undermine the city’s growth-management plan.