Yuba County Magnolia Ranch Development Referendum (June 2016)
| Yuba County Magnolia Ranch Referendum |
|---|
|
| The basics |
| Election date: |
| June 7, 2016 |
| Status: |
 Not on the ballot
|
| Topic: |
| Local zoning, land use and development |
| Related articles |
| Local zoning, land use and development on the ballot June 7, 2016 ballot measures in California Yuba County, California ballot measures |
| See also |
| Yuba County, California Andy Vasquez recall |
A referendum on the proposed Magnolia Ranch development project was not put on the ballot for voters in Yuba County, California, on June 7, 2016. The Yuba County Board of Supervisors rescinded the targeted Magnolia Ranch Development plan themselves, precluding the necessity for an election. This board action had the same effect as a "no" vote on the referendum question would have had.
Petitioners collected signatures to put this referendum on the ballot in order to give voters a chance to prevent a proposed development project called Magnolia Ranch, a 1,000-acre mixed-use project. The referendum was designed to target the project's specific plan, which was approved by the county board of supervisors in November 2015. Ultimately, the developer behind the project withdrew the proposal, which was a large factor in the decision by the board of supervisors to rescind the project plan[1]
Background
In November 2015, the county board of supervisors voted to approve the specific plan for the proposed Magnolia Ranch development, which was designed to be a mixed-use development located south of Ostrom Road and between South Beale and Bradshaw roads. This vote by the board was opposed by some of the landowners neighboring the site of the project, who argued that it would hurt their agricultural operations and misuse land with good farming potential. The 1,000-acre project was designed to include 3,300 residential units.[2]
Support
- Note: Those who supported the proposed Magnolia Ranch development and opposed this referendum effort to stop the project are referred to as "supporters" in this article.
Supporters of the Magnolia Ranch project argued that it would generate significant economic growth and create thousands of jobs.[1]
Opposition
- Note: Those who opposed the proposed Magnolia Ranch development and supported this referendum effort to stop the project are referred to as "opponents" in this article.
Stop Magnolia Ranch was the group behind this referendum effort.[3]
Opponents of the Magnolia Ranch project argued that it would waste land that had great farming potential and significantly harm the surrounding agricultural operations, which formed an essential part of the county's economy.[1]
Path to the ballot
Signature petition and rejection
| Yuba County Board of Supervisors Meeting on March 8, 2016 |
Petitioners submitted over 3,000 veto referendum petition signatures on December 15, 2015. The group needed 1,242 valid signatures to qualify the referendum for the ballot. Yuba County Clerk Terry Hansen rejected the referendum petition forms, however, before counting or verifying signatures. Based on advice from the office of the county counsel, Hansen rejected the petition because certain attachments and texts were not made available to those signing the petition sheets. The county elections office continued to verify the signature petition sheets despite the county's rejection of the petition forms and an impending lawsuit. Ultimately, after a court ruling and an appeal, the developer behind this initiative withdrew the proposal, and the county board of supervisors voted to rescind the proposed Magnolia Ranch project plan themselves, precluding the necessity of an election.[2][4][5]
Lawsuit
| Lawsuit overview | |
| Issue: Signature validity; whether the referendum petitions were valid considering an absence of certain reports and attachments | |
| Court: Yuba County Superior Court | |
| Ruling: Ruled in favor of plaintiffs, forcing the board of supervisors to either rescind the Magnolia Ranch project or put it before voters in June 2016 | |
| Plaintiff(s): San Francisco-based Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger on behalf of Stop Magnolia Ranch | Defendant(s): Yuba County Clerk Terry Hansen |
| Plaintiff argument: Yuba County Clerk Terry Hansen should have accepted the veto referendum petition signatures despite the absence of certain texts and attachments because a good faith effort was made, thousands of citizens signed the petition, and voters should be allowed to decide the issue. | Defendant argument: State law requires the full text of laws targeted by veto referendum petitions to be present on the petition forms so that signers have full knowledge of what they are agreeing to put on the ballot, and the referendum petitions targeting the specific plan for the Magnolia Ranch Development failed to include certain reports and attachments essential to understanding the specific plan. |
Source: Appeal-Democrat
On December 24, 2015, Stop Magnolia Ranch filed a lawsuit against Terry Hansen in Yuba County Superior Court seeking to force the county to put the Magnolia Ranch project before voters in June 2016. The issue at stake was whether or not the petition forms should have included certain documents and reports about the proposed Magnolia Ranch project. State law requires referendum petition forms to include the full text of the targeted law and any attachments to the targeted law or documents "included by reference" in the targeted law. Attorneys from the San Francisco-based Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger, who were hired by Stop Magnolia Ranch, argued in the lawsuit that no documents were "included by reference" by the Magnolia Ranch project specific plan.[6]
Ernie Ehnisz, a leader of the Magnolia Ranch opposition, said, "We are committed to seeing that the county's continued support of that special interest, Al Montna and his CEM investors, does not prevent the residents of Yuba County from having the opportunity to vote in favor of or against the adoption of the Magnolia Ranch Specific Plan."[6]
Ruling and board of supervisors action
Ultimately, the Yuba County Superior Court ruled that the referendum did, in fact, qualify for the ballot. This decision forced the county board of supervisors to either put the referendum before voters at the election on June 7, 2016, or rescind the targeted project plan themselves. Before the county board of supervisors considered the petition for their final decision, the developer behind the project withdrew his proposal. Thus, although several county supervisors expressed regret that the development project was not going to move forward, the county board voted to rescind the project's specific plan themselves at its meeting on March 8, 2016.[5][7][8]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Yuba County Magnolia Ranch referendum. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Appeal-Democrat, "Yuba County's newest development controversy: Magnolia Ranch," August 28, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Appeal-Democrat, "Yuba County rejects Magnolia Ranch referendum petitions," December 18, 2015
- ↑ Stop Magnolia Ranch, "Home," accessed January 9, 2016
- ↑ Stop Magnolia Ranch Facebook page, "We submitted the petition signatures yesterday," December 16, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Fox 40, "Magnolia Ranch Developer Withdraws Project," March 8, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Appeal-Democrat, "Lawsuit filed over Magnolia Ranch petitions," December 28, 2015
- ↑ Appeal-Democrat, "Judge lifts stay on Magnolia Ranch referendum for June ballot," March 2, 2016
- ↑ Youtube, "Yuba County Board of Supervisors Meeting 3-8-2016," March 9, 2016
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