Seven Summit County residents applied for a referendum to challenge the recently approved Dakota Pacific Real Estate development at the Park City Tech Center, which could ultimately put the decision to a public vote.The Summit County Council approved an ordinance amending the development agreement at the Kimball Junction site on Dec. 18, voting 4 to 1 in favor of the controversial project. Community members then had five days to file for a referendum, which the Summit County Clerk’s Office received on Dec. 23.Clerk Eve Furse said five signatories were required to complete the application. Seven signed on: Scott Greenberg, Joe Urankar, Ruby Diaz, Robert Lattanzi, Shawn Stinson, Brendan Weinstein and Jennifer Sexsmith. They live in the Summit Park, Kimball Junction and Prospector areas.However, certain standards must be met for a referendum to be approved before the decision could be potentially overturned.Furse forwarded the application to the county Finance Department and to the Attorney’s Office. Each has around 20 days to prepare a response for the sponsors that explains the petition’s financial consequences and whether it’s “referable” to voters.The financial officer and county attorney will examine a section of the Utah Code that addresses referenda to determine if the petition qualifies. Officials examine the fiscal and legal impacts of repealing the law proposed under the referendum, including whether there would be an increase or decrease in taxes or debt. Utah Code states a proposed referendum is legally referable unless it was an administrative action rather than a legislative one, if the proposed referendum challenges a land use decision rather than a land use regulation, if the proposed referendum challenges more than one law passed or if the referendum application was not filed timely.A proposed referendum is not legally referable to voters for a transit area land use law if it was passed by a two-thirds vote. Summit County was required to create a Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zone around the Kimball Junction area, near the Dakota Pacific project site.The opinions of county officials will determine whether the referendum will be referred to voters. Those are due in mid-January. If the application can move forward, Furse has a few days to send a petition form to the sponsors so they can start collecting signatures.There’s a 45-day timeline to gather the necessary number. Furse said the county is divided into quarters, and the sponsors need to collect 16% of signatures from registered voters in the whole county as well as 16% in at least three of the quarters. Furse said the Clerk’s Office should know by March whether there are enough signatures to meet the requirements. If not, the petition fails. It’s fair to assume those who sign the petition are against the Dakota Pacific development, according to Furse.If there are, the Clerk’s Office has about 110 days, or until the end of June, to review the signatures and make sure they match. Unlike when casting a ballot, signatories will not have the opportunity to correct a mismatched signature. If the petition requirements are met, then the referendum is put on the ballot for the general election in November. Furse could not recall a referendum in Summit County in recent years. The most recent one may have been at least 15 years ago.The post Summit County residents apply for referendum on Dakota Pacific project appeared first on Park Record.