City Administrator Barry Edwards told the council Tuesday that doing so would cost a projected $140,000. If the city were to collect that money from property taxes, Edwards said, it would have to raise that tax by 20 percent.

Councilwoman Gwyn Franson called the proposal "a huge financial burden, one I'm not willing to accept."

In an interview Wednesday, Highland Public Works Director Matt Shipp said the initiative's provisions would be highly difficult to implement.

"The city owns open space in natural areas that have scrub oaks and other natural vegetation," he said. "It has open space on rocky hillsides. (Placing grass) is not very practical in those areas."

But residents who sponsored the Open Space Initiative maintain their requests are not unreasonable.

"I think (the Council's reaction) is a problem," said resident Candace Hafen. "I think the city needs grass and it shouldn't have put open space if it can't make it look nice."

Hafen said she has been frustrated by open space areas that are unappealing, especially a chunk next to her home that is overrun with weeds.

"It just makes you not even want to keep your yard nice," she said.

Hafen believes the initiative is fair because it only asks for grass as opposed to more expensive landscaping materials like trees.

The same group of citizens may face less opposition in its other proposal, the Local Fence Initiative, which would make minor modifications to the type and height of fences that homeowners could build along property lines bordering designated open space.

Council members were more reserved in their reaction to that initiative, but still cited a need for more information, particularly about how many homes would be impacted by the change.

State law allows citizens to put an initiative before a city government by obtaining signatures from 15 percent of the total number of people who voted in the last election for governor, as long as the total number of votes was between 2,500 and 10,000. The signature must be from a registered voter who lives within the city and it must be legible.

In Highland, 5,023 people voted in last year's governor election, meaning each initiative required 753 signatures to be placed before the City Council. The Water Board Initiative had 901 recorded signatures, the Open Space Initiative had 851, and the Local Fence Initiative had 847. The council has 30 days to respond to the initiatives. Highland received the initiatives on Aug. 9 and 10, which puts the planned Sept. 6 vote within those guidelines.

State law gives the Council four options: adopt the initiative as written, effectively making it a city policy without appearing on the general election ballot (although opponents could conceivably submit an alternative initiative that would force the measure onto the ballot); approve the initiative for placement on the ballot; approved an amended version of the initiative that would then compete with the original version on the ballot; or allow the initiative to appear on the ballot without a council endorsement.

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E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com