A judge will decide this afternoon whether he'll order the Oxnard City Council to put a traffic initiative on tonight's council agenda to get it certified.

After hearing brief arguments from lawyers, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Ken Riley said today that he will take the matter into consideration.

At issue is whether the city violated the state law, and if so, whether the judge will order the traffic initiative be put on tonight's City Council agenda.

In a nearly packed courtroom 43, Assistant City Attorney Alan Holmberg and Attorney Richard Francis, representing City Councilman Tim Flynn, made brief arguments in the writ of mandate case.

Flynn, who is the petitioner, wants the City Clerk Daniel Martinez to put the matter on the City Council agenda to certify the initiative.

Francis told the judge that the petition signatures were found to be valid by the county and on Thursday, Martinez also found the petition to be valid. Francis told the judge that the state law requires the initiative must be put on agenda at the next City Council meeting, which is tonight.

Holmberg said the initiative will probably be put on the agenda on July 8.

"I don't think that as a staff member or as an attorney it makes any difference whether this ultimately gets on the ballot in November on whether its heard on July 1 or July 8," said Holmberg in an interview.

He said it violates the state's open meetings act to hear this matter today, adding that the law requires a 72-hour notice before an item is put on the agenda.

"And this is not a 72-hours notice," he said.

A total of 6,624 names were submitted on petitions in support of the measure, with 5,920 valid voter signatures needed to qualify it for the Nov. 4 election.

If approved by voters, the initiative could significantly curtail development in Oxnard. The measure would provide that commercial or industrial developments of more than 10,000 square feet or housing developments of more than five homes could not be approved by the city unless all intersections within a five-mile radius of the proposed project have had a peak level of service of C or better for the preceding year.

Opponents, including the Citizens for a Safe & Prosperous Oxnard, an anti-traffic initiative group, argue that the initiative provides no money to fix traffic and would impact have a "significant impact" on the city's economy.

To get the initiative on the November ballot, papers would need to be filed with the county clerk by Aug. 8.