Oceanside

A Vista Superior Court judge on Monday refused to reconsider his earlier ruling that favored developers in their legal battle against Oceanside’s Proposition A, which was passed by voters in 1987 in an attempt to slow growth by limiting the number of homes that can be built annually.

Attorney Katherine E. Stone, on behalf of the city, asked Judge Herbert B. Hoffman to reconsider his August ruling, in which he found that the city’s law does not guarantee enough lower-income housing. Builders hailed his ruling as supportive of their arguments that the law unconstitutionally limits their right to build homes in Oceanside.

Developers have contended that because of Proposition A’s limitations on residential growth, they are unable to build enough low and moderate-income housing in Oceanside, even though state law requires that each city provide its share of such housing. Hoffman said that while there are enough low- and moderate-income houses in the city now, Proposition A might limit that type of housing in the future.

While Hoffman on Monday refused to reconsider his decision, he did agree to hear arguments Oct. 11 on the city’s request that a trial on the lawsuit be postponed, either until an appellate court rules on the city’s appeal of his decision, or the city adopts a new housing element to its general plan to address the question of lower-income housing in the city.

The trial originally was scheduled to begin Oct. 1, but Hoffman said Monday it likely will not begin until December at the earliest--unless he is convinced by the city that the trial should be postponed even beyond that.