General Plan Repealed Again

For the second time in less than a year, the Diamond Bar City Council has voted to repeal its General Plan rather than let voters decide the fate of the development guideline.

Mayor Gary Werner and council members Eileen Ansari and Clair Harmony voted Tuesday night to rescind the plan. They said the council can work with citizens to make substantial changes instead of holding an election at a cost of $50,000 or more to the city.

Each newly elected member of the council majority would like to alter the plan to preserve more open space, particularly hillsides and canyons. They believe the city should impose more limits on development.

Activists led by a small group called Diamond Bar Citizens to Protect Country Living gathered about 4,000 signatures this fall to force a referendum on the General Plan. They needed about 2,600 signatures, but as of Wednesday morning the county registrar had not validated the signatures.

Council members Gary G. Miller and Phyllis Papen oppose revising the General Plan. They said petitioners in the last referendum drive told the public they would have an opportunity to vote on whether to rescind the General Plan. Now, they say, the council has deprived voters of that opportunity.

Earlier this year the previous City Council, led by then-mayor Miller, decided to revise the plan rather than put it to a vote after activists collected enough signatures to force a referendum. The council spent several months revising the plan before adopting a new one this summer.

Diamond Bar Citizens to Protect Country Living initiated another referendum drive, accusing the council of creating a plan that still favored development over open space.