DANA POINT : Council to Appeal Ruling on Petition

On advice from the city attorney, the City Council this week decided to press on in its fight against a local referendum on the city’s General Plan.

The council voted 4 to 1 to appeal a recent Superior Court ruling that requires the city clerk to process a petition demanding a referendum on the plan. City Atty. Jerry Patterson told the council that he believes that the petition is defective and that the city can win an appeal.

Patterson claimed that the most serious flaw was that the people circulating the petition against the General Plan did not have a copy of the plan with them to show those being asked to sign.

“The ruling is not correct,” Patterson told the council. “Every appellate court that has addressed this issue has held that the full text of the ordinance or resolution being challenged must be contained within the petition.”

Critics of the plan that was adopted unanimously by the council last July argue that it is pro-development and will change the face of the city from a small beach town to a destination resort. Immediately after the plan was adopted, the critics gathered about 2,300 signatures on a petition demanding the matter be the subject of a citywide vote.

Win or lose, the appeal process will effectively keep any referendum off the June ballot, Patterson said. Barring a special election, the earliest any vote could be taken would be in the November general election, he said.

Patterson also told the council that placing the plan on the ballot would shut down the city. Patterson said the city would be forced to halt all local development and the issuing of building permits.

Along with the appeal, the council also voted to seek discussions with the plan’s critics on a possible compromise. A public workshop on the plan was also suggested.