The petition is the latest effort by community leaders to ensure the clinic doesn’t disrupt nearby neighborhoods, clog streets or keep affordable health care away from employees.

“We believe it is critical that the City Council adopt community principles for the Stanford expansion project to ensure that the healthcare, employment and quality of life need of the community are addressed adequately,” stated Linda Lopez, vice president of El Concilio of San Mateo County, in an announcement about the petition.

Among the guidelines proposed are:

• Rules about traffic congestion, community healthcare access and worker rights.

• Hold public meetings to obtain community input.

• Require Stanford to perform outreach to all segments of the population, particularly the Latino population.

In addition to community standards, the petition calls for a full Environmental Impact Report on the project before the council approves it.

If Redwood City does call for standards, it will be a first. The city also has little legal weight to force Stanford to comply, councilmembers said in November during a press conference about the planned clinic.

Proponents, though, believe the city deserves input because it will subsidize police and fire services. Redwood City also stands to lose up to $200,000 in property tax annually because the university is exempt.

Earlier this year, Stanford bought the four buildings formerly housing Internet company Excite@Home with plans to convert them into outpatient clinics by 2007. The company closed in 2001 and the buildings have since sat vacant.

In October, the university also announced the purchase of eight nearby buildings in Mid-Point Technology Park on Broadway. Those lands could become a center for biotechnology research.