IRVINE : City Faces Decision About Northwood 5

The City Council is expected to decide tonight whether to rescind its decision to approve the 2,885-home Northwood 5 planned community or put the proposed development on the ballot.

Community anti-development activists collected enough signatures last month to force the council to make a choice between reversing its November vote in favor of the plan and allowing voters to decide.

City Clerk Nancy C. Lacey is scheduled to officially notify the council at its 6:30 p.m. session that the petition circulated to overturn the Irvine Co.’s latest residential project contained enough valid signatures to require council action.

If the council calls an election, it will be the second within a year in which a major residential development project is decided by city voters. On Nov. 5, Irvine voters narrowly approved the 3,850-home Westpark II project on 350 acres of farmland between Woodbridge and the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station. Opponents had collected enough signatures to force the referendum on that Irvine Co. project.

A citywide vote on Northwood 5 might be rendered moot, however, if the Irvine Co. goes ahead with its previously stated intention to ask the county to approve the project. The Northwood 5 area is just outside of the current city limits, north of the Northwood residential community in unincorporated county territory.

The area is set to one day be annexed to Irvine, which prompted the Irvine Co. to process its development request with the city. But until the land is annexed, the county may also exercise planning control over the land.

If the council votes to call an election, the measure either will be combined with either the Nov. 3 presidential election or the June primary, or the council could set another date for a special election.