The Town Council enacted a moratorium on development in the northwest corner of town, roughly the area along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Eubanks, Weaver Dairy and Homestead roads. The town will not approve anything but individual single-family homes in that area for at least six months.

The moratorium movement began this winter, led by a group of neighbors called Citizens United for Responsive Building, or CURB.

Just before 11 p.m., the Town Council also approved 120 condominiums for a project called Chapel Watch Village, off Eubanks Road. Pressured by two dozen neighbors, the council scrapped a potential plan for a new road through the project into the Larkspur neighborhood off Weaver Dairy Road Extension.

Only council member Mark Kleinschmidt supported the street connection, saying it would promote neighborliness. Following the 8-1 vote, the council chamber filled with cheers from Larkspur residents. They had collected nearly 300 signatures on a petition against the road connection, based on the potential cut-through traffic that they said might threaten their safety.

Instead, the council approved access only for pedestrians, cyclists and emergency vehicles.

"I'm happy that people can connect, not cars," council member Laurin Easthom said.

Kleinschmidt criticized the council for not creating shorter car trips when it had the chance.

"We are replicating the problem with the northwest quadrant that led to the need for a task force and a moratorium," he said.

The Northern Area Task Force will meet over the next several months and issue recommendations this fall for zoning changes that could help the area develop with more density and an urban feel along major transit routes such as MLK Boulevard and Weaver Dairy Road.

In line with the task force's recent 10-2 vote, the council voted unanimously for the moratorium. They bucked a request from the attorney of an affected property owner to exempt development applications that complied with current zoning.

"If you're going to have a moratorium, you've got to have a moratorium," council member Bill Thorpe said. "You can't have part of a moratorium."