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Supreme Court Ruling Gives Hilliard Group Go-Ahead On Rezoning Ballot Issue

The Ohio Supreme Court says Hilliard City Council improperly cited procedural concerns last December when it voted against placing a measure on the ballot giving residents 60 days to challenge certain types of rezoning legislation.  Jim Letizia reports.  

The ruling means voters on March 15 will in fact get to decide whether the public will have two months to challenge rezoning legislation via referendum petition. A citizens group is fighting with council over approving rezoning legislation as emergency measures and imposing tax-increment financing districts - or TIFs - in residential areas. The group says well-to-do developers should pay for improvements in residential TIF districts and not the people who live in them. County elections officials had ruled the group collected enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. Last November, a majority of voters in Worthington approved a measure requiring that city to wait 60 days before implementing zoning changes. 
 

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.