A growth-limiting initiative proposed for the June 2008 ballot will get scrutiny from the Napa County Board of Supervisors in January.

Napa County Registrar of Voters John Tuteur said Friday that next week he expects to certify the signatures on petitions for the Responsible Growth Initiative, setting in a motion a process that will fall at the feet of the supervisors next month.

The initiative is modeled after 1980’s Measure A, which limited growth to 1 percent in the unincorporated parts of the county. But this new version also limits future building heights to three stories. Backers of the initiative have said that the progress of the 3,200-home Napa Pipe proposal spurred them to action.

A vote by the Board of Supervisors — possibly coming as soon as Jan. 8 or Jan. 15 — will decide whether the initiative will become an ordinance straight away, be set before the voters on the June ballot or be scrutinized fiscally and legally under what’s called a 9111 report.

“There’ve been enough questions about it that it would be great to do an independent analysis of it,” said Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht, adding he hadn’t made a final decision yet.

Supervisor Bill Dodd said a 9111 report could provide voters with unbiased information about the initiative.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to doing some fiscal analysis on it,” he said. “We’ve done that with some other initiatives. I would never consider enacting it (directly) into law under any circumstances. People sign initiatives all the time just so something can get to the ballot.”

Supervisor Diane Dillon said the decision to order a 9111 report would depend on how much time county staff could spend on the effort.

“I think it would be interesting to do a 9111 because I think they’re helpful for the voters,” she said. “I think the voter can hopefully rely on it as being objective information.”

The Responsible Growth Initiative has been the subject of pointed criticism from an opposition group called Keep Napa Napa, funded in part by Napa Pipe developers Napa Redevelopment Partners. Former Napa Mayor Ed Henderson, one of nine signatories to a recent attack letter mailed out to Napa County residents, is a member of Napa Redevelopment Partners.

In the letter, Keep Napa Napa charges that a local attorney and a small cadre of associates is not behind the initiative, as Marshall maintains. Instead, they charge that out-of-town interests paid for the hired guns who have collected signatures and drafted the initiative.

In a letter to the editor published earlier this week, Marshall said his group, the Napa Coalition for Responsible Growth, is a “broad-based citizens coalition (that has) joined together out of concern for what we see as a potential threat to the agricultural heritage and quality of life that we have come to enjoy in Napa County.”