The fate of a controversial design review process and overall residential zoning in the Emerald Hills community is largely in residents’ hands if they can reach some sort of consensus about what they want for the neighborhood.

Homeowners have until the end of this month to comment on a draft survey which will be sent out by the end of the first week in December, said county Community Development Director Lisa Grote.

After collecting the surveys approximately one month later, the county will compile the results and post them on a pending Web site, Grote said.

Unless the surveys lean overwhelmingly in one direction, “I think we will need to have a second meeting,” Grote said, referencing a community forum held Wednesday.

That hearing, according to county officials like Supervisor Rich Gordon, was to gauge public sentiment about resurrecting or revising the suspended Design Review Committee. About 400 people crowded the meeting, offering a range of opinions, but an overwhelming number wanted to eliminate design review altogether, said resident Nancy Mangini.

Mangini and her husband belong to the Emerald Hills Community Coalition which previously pushed the county to disband the committee after opponents argued it held up projects that didn’t adhere to certain stylistic guidelines.  

Emerald Hills includes more than 1,700 property owners in unincorporated Redwood City. The homeowners’ association spent two years promoting 32 pages of new design and building guidelines, including types of plants to acceptable exterior colors. Design guidelines are not law, but offer a strict direction for the committee.

  Grote is hopeful the county will have a pretty fair idea of whether any consensus or majority opinion exists by the end of January. The Planning and Building Department is establishing a Web site for questions and information with plans for it to go live before the Thanksgiving holiday.

In the interim, questions can be directed to William Gibson at 363-1816 or Steve Monowitz at 363-1858.

Michelle Durand can be reached by e-mail: michelle@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 102.