But victory came easily, as the developer withdrew its appeal for reconsideration three hours before the meeting.

"I am not sure whether they will come back with other plans," said Robert Garten, a board memeber of the CCC, with disbelief and relief.

But Ken Busch of Regis Homes, who has worked on the Oaks project for eight months, said Regis is not the enemy and that the dropping of the Oaks project is a loss for the Oaks and the community.

"It has been a difficult process, so we don't want to continue," Busch said. He said the most frustrating part was that the city council and the planning commission gave the developer a green light to put housing at the Oaks at their first meeting and that the developer was unaware of the controversy until the first planning commission meeting. "Throughout the process, the concerns expressed by residents kept changing," Busch said. He said Regis Homes will not consider coming back with another project for the Oaks.

But that is not good enough for the CCC. To prevent any high-rise and high-density developments, the CCC announced at the March 1 city council meeting that it would submit three initiatives that the group hopes will appear on the November ballot. It submitted the initiatives on March 4.

The three initiatives are

*Building height initiative: The city will limit building heights to a maximum of 36 feet. This rule applies to

all types of new buildings but not to existing ones. The Vallco Fashion Park district, bounded by Wolfe and Homestead roads, Tantau Avenue and Stevens Creek Boulevard, will have an exception that will allow buildings of up to 45 feet tall.

*Density initiative: The maximum density of any development is 15 units per acre. This regulation is applied to all types of new buildings but not to existing ones. The Vallco Fashion Park district will have an exception that will allow mixed use or residences of 30 units per acre.

*Setback initiative: Setbacks from the curb of at least 35 feet are required or a 1.5-to-1 ratio of slope-line distance (which means 1.5 feet of setback for every foot of height). Vallco Fashion Park will have a minimum setback determined by a 1-to-1 slope-line distance ratio.

"We are not antigrowth. We just want sensible growth," said Ned Britt. "The language is not final. We want to work with the council to make the initiatives reasonable."

City Attorney Chuck Kilian is reviewing the initiatives. Within 15 days, he will provide a title and a summary for each initiative, which must then be published in the newspaper. The group has 180 days after the date of publication to gather petition signatures.