Glendora : Petition for Slow Growth

A slow-growth citizens group plans to submit more than 2,400 petition signatures today in the hope of forcing a special election to give voters a chance to overturn a City Council decision.

Glendora Pride, a group formed last year to protest extensive development of the city’s hillsides, is seeking a referendum on an ordinance passed by the council earlier this year, which raised the height limit of new houses from 25 to 30 feet, with allowances for homes as high as 35 feet.

Developers and other proponents of the height increase said the 25-foot limit was established in the 1970s when ranch-style homes were popular and is not realistic in an age when Tudor-style homes with high, steep roofs are in vogue. Members of Glendora Pride have argued that higher homes will block views and destroy the appearance of the hillsides.

If the group submits valid signatures from at least 10% of the city’s 24,812 registered voters, the City Council must vote to overturn the contested ordinance or call a special election later this year, City Clerk Culver Heaton said.