Summit County Clerk Eve Furse said her office will meet the Monday deadline to finish counting thousands of signatures submitted in support of repealing Ordinance No. 987, the approval of an amended development agreement with Dakota Pacific Real Estate in Kimball Junction.
The verified count was at 3,207 as of 9 a.m. on Friday, only six more than the total reported earlier this week. Clerk’s Office staff have been tallying signatures every day since the final petition packets were submitted on March 3, but Furse said the Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office hasn’t been updated over the past few days.
Furse was adamant that staff would finish counting the rest of the submitted packets by the deadline, though she wouldn’t speculate how much left there was to do.
The Clerk’s Office plans to submit the verified signature total to the state in time for a last count to be posted Tuesday morning. Then, a 45-day withdrawal period will start for people who want to remove their signatures from the ballot.
The total number of signers listed online will be adjusted as the Clerk’s Office processes the removal requests. Furse estimated Summit County has received about 30 so far.
Protect Summit County, the referendum movement started by seven residents — Scott Greenberg, Joe Urankar, Ruby Diaz, Robert Lattanzi, Shawn Stinson, Brendan Weinstein and Jennifer Sexsmith — still needs 1,347 signatures, or about 30%, for the petition to meet the minimum collection requirement.
Clerk’s Office staff checks the address associated with each signature to confirm it belongs to a registered voter and then the signature is compared with the county’s voter registration database to ensure it matches. Unlike when casting a ballot, voters will not have the opportunity to correct a mismatched signature.
Furse disqualified several of the signature packets submitted by Protect Summit County in February for “improper circulation,” saying the documents were not bound correctly. State code dictates how petition packets must be printed, bound, circulated and numbered.
Referendum sponsors estimated they submitted 77 packets to the Clerk’s Office containing more than 6,000 signatures. They maintain all documents meet state standards and they’re confident the referendum will advance.
If the referendum petition has enough signers, 4,554 total, then the Clerk’s Office will calculate whether the percentage requisite is met. The petition needs support from 16% of voters countywide as well as 16% from three of the four voter districts to qualify for the November ballot.
Furse doesn’t have to make an official determination on whether the referendum petition is sufficient or insufficient until June 23. She said it’s hard to know whether staff will need that long to calculate the percentages or process the withdrawal requests. Her priority is to ensure the process is conducted correctly.
“If we need to wait … we will do that,” Furse said.
If the referendum petition is declared sufficient, it will appear on the general election ballot. The ordinance adopting Dakota Pacific’s 725-unit mixed-use development, approved by the Summit County Council in a 4 to 1 vote on Dec. 18, would be “placed on hold” and not take effect until the voters approve — or reject — it.
A ballot title would be drafted and the county would likely republish a voter information pamphlet with details about the referendum. There would be another opportunity for statements to be submitted for and against the proposition as well as an impartial analysis of the impacts of the referendum prepared by the county’s Chief Financial Officer and County Attorney.
If the referendum makes it to the ballot, a vote in favor of the referendum repeals the ordinance. A vote against the referendum leaves the ordinance in place.
Furse expected there would be campaigning for, and against, the referendum if it made it onto the November ballot.
Dakota Pacific formed Wasatch Back Future as a PIC to counter the Protect Summit County movement. Protect Summit County doesn’t have such an affiliation because it is a volunteer-led effort, according to the sponsors.
Protect Summit County said it plans to pursue legal action if the referendum effort fails, but Dakota Pacific might still be able to move forward with its project regardless of what happens with Ordinance No. 987.
Senate Bill 26, approved at the end of the Utah Legislature’s general session, essentially codifies the amended Tech Center development agreement. The development firm also filed to incorporate its land as a preliminary municipality after the referendum petition was announced.
If deemed feasible by the Lt. Governor’s Office, Dakota Pacific would have the right to make land use and zoning decisions on its land even if the ordinance is repealed.