Oceanside

Slow-growth advocates in Oceanside have submitted a petition bearing nearly 8,000 signatures in hopes of putting an initiative on the ballot that would limit the number of dwelling units built each year.

The city clerk has until early January to determine whether the petition, submitted Monday, has the necessary 6,229 valid signatures of registered voters to qualify for the ballot.

Like similar slow-growth measures in other North County cities, the initiative proposes an annual limit on residential construction: 1,000 units the first year and 800 annually thereafter until 1999.

It also features a point system to determine which developments may be built. Projects score higher if they are less dense and provide for adequate public services.

Projects in the city’s redevelopment area would be exempted from the measure, as would senior citizen complexes, low-income housing and single-family houses on existing lots.