Residents organized a referendum that sought to overturn the December ordinance approving Dakota Pacific Real Estate’s Kimball Junction project.
Now that a district court judge says the referendum won’t have any “practical effect” on the mixed-use development, they want the Summit County Council to repeal its December decision.
Angela Moschetta, of the referendum group Protect Summit County, said residents will appeal the mootness decision if the council doesn’t repeal, since the judge hasn’t yet dismissed the case.
“Really at this point, whether it's through ballot referendum or it's through action of the county, repealing [the December ordinance] is all we want in order that we can proceed to the next step and look at SB26,” she said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Aug. 28.
Senate Bill 26 is the new state law that the county and court agree allows Dakota Pacific to develop on its land around Tech Center Drive.
The residents who appealed to 3rd District Court to get a referendum on the November ballot have also expressed interest in challenging that law as unconstitutional.
Moschetta said their legal fees have already eclipsed $100,000. A GoFundMe had raised $12,000 as of Aug. 28.
“We are talking to people of different means behind the scenes to help us get the lion's share of the bills paid,” she said.
Referendum supporters have been frustrated with costs on both sides. Taxpayers are also paying for Summit County Clerk Eve Furse’s defense since she’s the one responding to their legal challenge.
One argument made by attorneys on the clerk’s behalf was that SB26 makes the issue moot.
Court papers state the five residents who took Furse to court, Moschetta, Reed Galen, Ruby Diaz, Dana Williams and Brendan Weinstein, then offered “to enter a stipulated order declaring that [the county’s ordinance] had no legal effect.”
They claimed Furse would not say whether the ordinance had legal effect, so the residents’ attorneys decided to argue the issue wasn’t moot. They said the referendum is not moot unless the county or the court undoes the council’s December decision.
Councilmembers considered repealing it Aug. 20. They decided not to, partly because they didn’t want to intentionally moot the issue, which might seem like putting a thumb on the scales before the judge made a ruling.
Another vote on whether to repeal had not been scheduled as of Aug. 28.
County spokesperson Derek Siddoway said the council may decide to revisit the issue in the future, but he does not expect a special meeting to repeal the old ordinance this week. The next scheduled council meeting is Sept. 3.
Moschetta said residents have 21 days to appeal the mootness ruling.
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