PLACENTIA

The City Council postponed action this week on a proposed 45-day moratorium on new residential housing developments because Mayor Michael Maertzweiler was absent.

Councilman Norman Z. Eckenrode proposed the moratorium two weeks ago as a way to let city staff revise the housing element of the General Plan. Eckenrode said the moratorium also would help protect the last two undeveloped pieces of land from being taken by developers before the city could decide whether to build a community center there.

Eckenrode said those sites are the last ones where a center could be built. Councilwoman Maria Moreno has supported the idea of the moratorium, but Councilwoman Constance Underhill has openly opposed it. Maertzweiler and Councilman Chris Lowe have not yet stated a position on the issue, which would require a four-fifths majority vote of the council to pass.