This article was updated at 11 a.m. on Oct. 28.
Pro-suburb and anti-apartment residents still angry about Plano’s recently approved development plan have started a new petition endeavor: to put the comprehensive plan up to a referendum vote.
They’ll need to get 1,861 valid signatures for a referendum, which is 20 percent of the voter turnout at the city’s last election, said City Secretary Lisa Henderson.
Plano Future, the group that fought Plano Tomorrow for more than a year, started handing out petition packets Saturday. Allan Samara, Plano Future spokesman, said he doesn’t know how many signatures they have so far.
But City Attorney Paige Mims has been telling them even before the Plano Tomorrow vote that a referendum on a zoning component like this plan is impossible.
The state gives limited power to the ballot when it comes to zoning. State law used to prohibit zoning being placed on any ballot at all, Mims said. Now, it only allows referenda to adopt zoning regulations for the first time or repeal a municipality’s zoning regulations in their entirety. Plano Tomorrow does not qualify as either, Mims said.
“We’re not in any way trying to discourage the petition process. The city will evaluate it accordingly,” Mims said. “We’re willing to look at any legal analysis they have to the contrary, but based on our analysis, that issue is barred.”
Plano Future doesn’t have legal proof yet that it can petition a referendum on Plano Tomorrow. The group hasn’t consulted with an attorney, Samara said, and it’s basing its argument on insight from other citizen groups that have petitioned for referenda.
Still, Plano Future refuses to believe Mims.
“It’s kind of an odd setup that the city attorney working to protect the city status quo is also going to rule on whether our petition is valid,” Samara said. “We’re still going to retain some hope that they’ll be fair in that regard.”
There’s always the option of petitioning for council members’ removal, an idea Plano Future hasn’t chucked yet.
“We hope that that is not the solution we have to seek,” Samara said.
