Here is where we are today with the Defenders of Greater Ivins (DOGIs)
An appeal has been filed against the Ivins City Council for their failure to comply with the controlling city ordinances when making their motion to amend the zoning for the SITLA 120 project.
A motion to stay the enforceability of the resolution has been filed to prevent any third parties from improperly relying on the City‘s approval.
The City has hired legal counsel to represent them in the appeal process. Their attorney is currently involved in a lengthy jury trial unrelated to this matter and has asked for an extension of time to respond, which we have happily granted.
The Developer has sought to intervene in the proceedings and has objected to the motion to stay. On December 6 at 1:30 PM, in the Saint George City Courthouse, the court will hear oral arguments from our legal counsel and from the Developer regarding the issue of whether the intervention will be allowed and whether an objection to the stay will be heard.
You may have read on some of the DOGI posts that one of the next steps may be a referendum. Having no idea what it really was, I thought I would offer some basics. Now, when I am dealing with complicated information or anything technical, I prefer to break it down into what I refer to as “kindergarten language.” That is what I am offering here so I hope not to offend anyone smarter than me!
As the song goes, “Let’s start at the very beginning…” with definitions.
Petition: A formal document signed by a large number of people demanding or asking for some action from the government or another authority, especially in a court of law.
Referendum: A referendum is a petition to refer to an existing law and submit it to the voters for their approval or rejection. A local referendum refers to county, municipal, or metro township laws, and a statewide referendum refers to state law. The word referendum comes from the Latin referee, which means to carry back. Referendums allow the people to get back the decision. It is when a decision must be carried back to the people to decide. The two types of referendum are Popular and Legislative. Popular is where the people put it on the ballot, legislative is where the government puts it on the ballot.
What will the DOGIs do? It depends. This is why we hired a very capable attorney that has experience in these types of situations.
In the event we need to complete the referendum or initiative process it will be critical that we obtain as many signatures as possible from registered voters in Ivins within a very short time frame so stay tuned!!!
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