2,318 Signatures Needed By May 23rd For Referendum

Mt. Vernon area residents need to collect 2,318 signatures by May 23rd to get a November referendum on the ballot.

The referendum could overturn a Cookeville City Council decision to rezone about 11 acres for a 160-unit apartment complex. Clearing has already begun on the land, located along West 9th Street and North Franklin Avenue.

The Putnam County Election Commission voted unanimously Friday to accept state recommendations on the referendum and schedule the deadline.

The Commission had delayed a vote last month after a conflict arose on how citizens could challenge a city council decision. The city charter differs from state code in how many voters must approve the petition to have it placed on the referendum.

Elections Administrator Debbie Steidl said the state urged the commission to use its rules. State code calls for 15 percent of the city’s registered voters to sign a petition to get the referendum placed on the ballot.

Steidl said she based the 2,318 number on the total registered voters on the day opponents asked for the petition.

The council voted January 18th to rezone the land from from single family residential to planned unit development. The apartment complex, being developed by Justin Cumby of Titan Development and Wayne Cravens, would serve as student-based housing.

“This is not just about Mount Vernon, this is about Cookeville,” Opponent Tom Robertson said. “If they can do it in our backyard, they can change the zoning anywhere in Cookeville. That will be our emphasis. I think when people learn that, then they’re going to vote against it.”

Robertson said the group will begin circulating the petitions among the eight-member committee. Advertising, public meetings, and social media are also among Robertson’s plans.

The group could have chosen an August ballot. Robertson said he decided to try for the November ballot to give the group more time to collect signatures. The group would have needed the signatures by May 4 to make the August ballot.

Steidl said organizers can bring petitions in as they complete them for verification. Elections officials not only verify the signature as a Cookeville registered voter but that the signature matches the one on file.

Based on state recommendations, the petition will read “Shall ordinance No. 0171224, which rezones parcels on West 9th Street and North Franklin Avenue, Tax arcels #401-D-1.00 & 2.00, from Single Family Residential to Planned Residential Development. Shall ordinance No. 017224 which rezones parcels on West 9th Street and North Franklin Avenue from Single Family Residential to Planned Residential Development be approved?”

Steidl said city officials had not responded to the differences noted between its charter and state code.