By Stan Welch
The effort to put the issue of zoning in Powdersville on a pair of referendums in May failed when the two petitions came up less than fifteen signatures each short of being certified.
Michael Forman, in his last week as Anderson County’s planning director, was informed Tuesday afternoon by the elections commission office that the two petitions, one from the Powdersville precinct, and one from the Concrete precinct, both failed to produce the required number of certified signatures.
Petition organizers Justin Williams and Bobby James had both expressed confidence that they had enough additional signatures to counteract any that might be disqualified. That turned out not to be the case. Still, the petitions can be reintroduced immediately, a fact that organizer Justin Williams is well aware of.
“We will definitely gear up for another try. We thought with a thousand signatures, we had an adequate cushion. We were wrong. Next time, we’ll get twelve hundred. A fresh start is required, but two more dates – the second Tuesday of August and November – are available for the special referendums.”
The required signatures would have to be gathered and submitted to the elections commission for certification sixty days prior to those dates. The zoning amendment would require three readings by the County Council, with the last one coming after the referendum votes.
A precise schedule for the various public meetings and public hearings required was presented earlier in the day to Councilwoman Cindy Wilson’s Planning and Public Works Committee, but the notification rendered that schedule moot.
