Light rail opponents have plunked down a petition with 1,100signatures on city council's table asking for a citizen referendumon whether to let the Metropolitan Transit Authority - Metro - useHouston streets. Now the controversy swirls around whether a citycharter clause requiring only 500 signatures to trigger a vote isapplicable. City attorneys say 20,000 signatures are required. PaulBibler, assistant city attorney, says the 500-signature requirementapplies only to franchise agreements, but councilman Rob Toddinterprets the 500-signature clause to apply to the light-railproposal.

This is not exactly a Christmas present for Metro, which hadscheduled groundbreaking for January, and sees a costly delay evenif it doesn't have to wait on balloting. There's also the prospectof having to acquire rights-of-way on S. Main, Fannin and Jacintostreets via condemnation for its 7.5-mile, $300-million railline.

Metro has resolved to ignore the threat. "We are going forward,"says Metro's Julie Gilbert. Let the attorneys work out theproblem.