By Town Crier Staff Report

The Los Altos Hills group pushing to give residents the power to preserve local open space plans to release a final ballot initiative by the end of this month for next spring. Los Altos Hills Open Space members have already crafted a 14-page rough draft and raised $20,000 for attorney fees.

The group is hoping that the initiative will lock in approximately 70 acres of prime Los Altos Hills real estate as permanent open space.

The Audobon Society of Santa Clara Valley, Bay Area Barns & Trails and the Committee for Green Foothills are backing the initiative. Council candidates Dean Warshawsky and Breene Kerr are helping to fund the initiative.

Residents banded together earlier this year after the city council suggested that Westwind Barn be moved onto Byrne Preserve so the city could sell some of the open space land to bolster the town’s budget. Supporters say the 13-acre Westwind property is the heart of recreational activity in the town.

The planning commission last month recommended that the city council not pursue selling open space land, but that is not enough, said longtime environmental activist Nancy Couperus.

Even if the present city council decides not to sell the property, a future council might someday have the same idea, she said.

To validate the initiative, the group needs to get at least 800-900 signatures, or 10 percent to 15 percent of the town’s 5,500 registered voters.

Several neighborhood informational meetings have been scheduled. For more information, e-mail kharis6@cs.com.