Sutter Creek officials put it in low gear Monday and slogged through a fresh round of developer's objections to city-drafted strictures on the proposed Gold Rush Ranch subdivision.

In particular, developer Greenrock Holdings LLC wants not to be strictly hampered in where on its 945-acre tract it can bulldoze the earth. Planning commission recommendations to the city council would restrict grading to acreage to be covered by streets, driveways and building footprints.

Managing partner Bill Bunce countered with proposed agreement language that would allow city project officials to permit grading in such a manner as to guarantee project construction would be "feasible" and "reasonable" in terms of ease and of profit for developers.

When it became obvious that such as suggestion allowed for ambiguity in a controversial project, some council members made counter-objections.

"If 'feasible' is going to be employed, you'll have the fox watching the chickens," said City Councilman Tim Murphy. "It opens a can of worms over nothing. It will be confusing in the future, and it implies we're not serious about grading."

Bunce said, "We agree 'feasible and reasonable' is an ambiguous standard."

When it became obvious that simply to insist once and for all on no ambiguity meant rejecting Bunce's stance outright, the council decided the city needs to hammer out some language that both provided for city control of grading at the site and avoided alarming Greenrock into withdrawing its project, which has been talked of openly as a life jacket for a struggling city government.

Developers representatives and council members agreed to convene a panel to work out grading-restriction language that safeguards the interests of both the public and of Greenrock.