PATA History Pages

Zoning Referndum Goes to Supreme Court

Developers fight the details....again

DELAWARE COUNTY DEVELOPMENT
Rezoning referendum misleading, court told
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Dana Wilson
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


DELAWARE, Ohio — A Columbus developer is asking the Ohio Supreme Court to stop the Delaware County Board of Elections from placing a rezoning referendum on the November ballot.

A lawsuit filed Aug. 15 claims that the board should have rejected petitions filed by opponents of the NorthStar Golf Resort in Kingston Township.

Donald C. Brey, the attorney representing developer Robert Weiler, said his client is concerned that the summary and the map attached to the petition were drafted to mislead and confuse voters.

Brey said the petition does not include changes made to Weiler’s plan since voters rejected his first proposal in November 2003.

In December, Kingston Township trustees approved Weiler’s latest rezoning request for 866 acres. Revisions include a reduction in the number of single-family units from 723 to 653 and the donation of 25 acres for a township hall.

Brey said the petitioners omitted that information and "aren’t letting voters know there’s a difference . . . The argument that we’re making is that the petition is misleading, inaccurate or contains material omissions."

Prosecutor Dave Yost filed a brief Monday urging the high court to uphold voters’ rights.

"One of the things that we’re saying is we shouldn’t let loopholes and hyper-technical criteria drive the outcome," Yost said. "We ought to let the people drive the outcome."

Yost’s office previously advised elections officials to reject the petitions because they do not comply with state law.

In April, Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Betts said the documents were missing information and an attached map was confusing.

Election-board members, however, disagreed and approved the petitions.

Earlier this month, the board denied a protest of the vote, said Janet Brenneman, board director.

"They upheld their decision to leave it on the ballot," Brenneman said. "They continued with what they felt was right."

Weiler said he is hopeful the court will rule in his favor.

"This is not a matter of giving the voters the right to vote or not," he said. "It’s a matter of filing the petitions correctly."

dwilson@dispatch.com