2018.04.23 Council Agenda Item 09
Summary
Resolution regarding a recently submitted voters' petition concerning high density residential zoning in established areas of the Town.
A public comment period will be included with this item (3 minutes per person).
ACTION: Council action is anticipated.
Description
On April 10, 2018 the Town received a voters' petition that read: “We, the citizens of the town of Falmouth, Maine petition the Town to rescind the Town Council decision of July 2016, Creating high density residential zoning in established areas of the Town of Falmouth.” In accordance with State Statute and the Town Charter, the Town Clerk verified the signatures on the petition and forwarded it to the Town Attorney for review.
On April 16, 2018 the Town Attorney issued an opinion that determined the language in the petition is legally defective for two reasons: 1. any petition that seeks to overturn a Town Council action must be filed within 60 days of that action - in this case the action was taken in July, 2016; and 2. any petition that seeks to enact an ordinance must include the proposed ordinance text. Neither the Town Attorney nor the Town Council have the authority to alter, correct or interpret the meaning of the petition language. The Town Attorney has therefore determined that the Council is not legally obligated to place the referendum on the June 12 ballot. A copy of the Town Attorney's legal opinion is attached.
The Council held a special meeting on April 18 to discuss this issue. At that meeting they agreed with the Attorney that the petition language cannot go before the voters, and discussed committing to a process to address the issue, including conducting a forum to hear the public's concerns about the changes made to residential density as part of the July 2016 ordinance amendments and reviewing the current ordinance language.
A draft resolution based on the Council's discussion on April 18 is attached.
