Residents in Avon Lake, Ohio, want voters, not just city officials, to have the final say on two central parts of the proposed redevelopment of the former Avon Lake Power Plant.
As The Morning Journal reported, the petition effort reflects a broader frustration that decisions about former industrial land can shape a community for decades before residents feel they have had a clear say.
Here's what to know
A proposed charter amendment filed with Avon Lake Clerk of Council Valarie Rosmarin by William Zimmerman, attorney Gerald W. Phillips, and Beth Wallace would put two future city actions involving the power plant site before voters, the paper said.
Specifically, any ordinance approving tax increment financing, or TIF, for the property and any ordinance rezoning it into the city's Lakefront Mixed-Use Overlay District.
The filing included 1,148 signatures, exceeding the 484 valid signatures needed, The Morning Journal reported. The Lorain County Board of Elections must check those signatures. Phillips has said he wants the measure on the Nov. 3 general election ballot and will ask the Ohio Supreme Court to intervene if that does not occur.
If adopted, the amendment would bar either type of ordinance from taking effect unless voters signed off at a general or regular election held at least 90 days after passage.
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Phillips has framed the effort as a way to leave a consequential local call directly in residents' hands.
"The purest form of democracy is where the actual residents, citizens, taxpayers and electors exercise the right to vote on major issues," he told The Morning Journal.
More background
The proposed vote requirement comes after years of redevelopment planning involving Avon Lake officials and Avon Lake Environmental Redevelopment Group LLC, or ALERG.
Along the way, the paper reported the City Council approved both an interim development agreement and a purchase-sale agreement, and it also narrowly approved the Lakefront Mixed-Use Overlay District on a 4-3 vote.
ALERG has said the project would require a 30-year TIF at 100% to move ahead, according to a release cited by The Morning Journal. The related zoning would permit up to 60 residential units per acre, with a total cap of 1,200 units.
Tax incentives can affect how much future revenue goes to public services, while zoning decisions can shape traffic, water and sewer demand, emergency response needs, and the overall character of a lakefront community centered on a former industrial site.
Transparency has also been part of the fight. The Morning Journal reported that Phillips and Zimmerman had sought records connected to the Brownfield Committee, and the Ohio Supreme Court later ordered the release of that committee's meeting minutes.
What's being done?
The proposed amendment would require public approval before major tax incentives and a zoning change could become final, the publication noted. The city is also pursuing more financial review.
An Avon Lake City Council ad hoc committee is reportedly preparing a request for qualifications for a financial consultant to perform an economic sensitivity analysis comparing possible redevelopment revenue with projected costs.
The immediate issue is signature verification by the Board of Elections. If the petition clears that step, Avon Lake voters could definitively have their say.
"We elect representatives to express and represent our views, goals, principles, values and positions," Phillips explained to The Morning Journal.
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