An initiative to reduce the number of homes that could be built in north Fillmore might make it difficult for the city to meet its state-mandated quota of affordable housing units, according to a consultant's report presented to the City Council.

The North Fillmore Area Initiative, which will be on the November ballot, aims to reduce the number of homes that could be built in the area north of Fifth Street between A and B streets.

Instead of the 700 homes allowed by the city's general plan, the initiative would amend the plan to allow only 350 homes.

Proponents of the initiative say it would create a more manageable amount of growth in that area.

But a report prepared by San Jose-based Management Partners Inc., at the request of the council and submitted Tuesday, says the initiative could make the vacant land economically unfeasible to develop because too few units would share the cost of infrastructure.

"North Fillmore would stay much more like it is today if the initiative is adopted," said Andrew Belknap, regional vice president for Management Partners.

That's the point, said City Council candidate Jamey Brooks, who spoke during the meeting.

"We want Fillmore to stay much the way it is," he said. Brooks also said he thought development would be possible on a smaller scale.

Later, in an interview, Brooks said supporters of the initiative do not want to stop development.

"We're not in the place of no growth. We're in the place of reasonable growth because Fillmore is bottled up because of the river and the mountains," he said.

The report also says fewer homes could make it challenging for Fillmore to build the 985 moderate-, low- and extremely low-income housing units required by 2014.

That is the city's Regional Housing Needs Assessment obligation, put forth by the Southern California Association of Governments, according to City Manager Tom Ristau.

Affordable housing must make up 15 percent of any new development, so if 350 homes are built instead of 700, 52 units that would have been built in North Fillmore would have to go elsewhere in the city, said Councilwoman Cecilia Cuevas

Citing a legal memorandum the council opted to make public, Cuevas said the initiative could result in litigation because of its effect on Fillmore's ability to meet its affordable housing obligation. "This can be devastating to our city," she said.

The report and the legal memorandum are both available on the city's Web site, http://www.fillmoreca.com, as well as at City Hall, 250 Central Ave., and the Fillmore Library, 502 Second St.

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