HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 04-C210
RESOLUTION NO. 04-C21
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A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF AZUSA, CALIFORNIA, CONCERNING THE CITY
COUNCIL'S DESIRE TO HOLD A SPECIAL ELECTION
TO ALLOW THE VOTERS OF THE CITY OF AZUSA TO
VOTE ON THE MONROVIA NURSERY PROJECT
WHEREAS, on February 18, 2003, the City Council of the City of Azusa
approved a general plan amendment, a zoning code amendment, and a specific plan
related to the development of the Monrovia Nursery property commonly referred to as
the "Monrovia Nursery Project"; and
WHEREAS, prior to March 18, 2003, a citizen's group calling itself
Azusans for Responsible Growth "ARG" circulated and obtained signatures to call for a
referendum on the ordinances approving the entitlements for the Monrovia Nursery
Project; and
WHEREAS, the signatures were presented to the City of Azusa's directly
elected City Clerk; and
WHEREAS, the City's elected City Clerk determined that the referenda
petitions did not comply with California Elections Code Section 9238; and
WHEREAS, ARG filed a Petition for Writ of Mandate challenging the City
Clerk's determination; and
WHEREAS, the City Council as the legislative body of the City of Azusa,
at no time had any legal authority to take any actions with respect to the referenda
petitions or the City Clerk's determination; and
WHEREAS, the City Councilmembers who voted to approve the Monrovia
Nursery Project were frustrated with the length of time that had passed between its
approval of the Monrovia Nursery Project and the status of ongoing litigation filed by
ARG; and
WHEREAS, in a tentative opinion by the Court regarding ARG's litigation,
the court noted that it was inclined to deny the Petition for Writ of Mandate, but
nonetheless would permit ARG to submit an amended petition to cure a pleading error
so that the court could issue the Writ as requested by ARG; and
WHEREAS, the real party in interest, Monrovia Nursery, and the elected
City Clerk, both have independent rights to pursue an appeal of an adverse ruling with
respect to Petition for Writ of Mandate; and
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WHEREAS, as of the adoption of this resolution there is no final judgment
in the ARG litigation challenging the City Clerk's decision not to certify the referenda
petition; and
WHEREAS, on January 5, 2004, Councilmembers Chagnon and Rocha
agendized for the regular meeting of the City Council on January 5, 2004, the item of
potentially placing the Monrovia Nursery Project on a special election ballot to allow the
voters to vote on the Project regardless of the outcome of the ARG litigation; and
WHEREAS, the Council Members had various reasons for supporting the
special election including that some wanted to allow the voters to vote and others were
frustrated with the delay and its lack of control over its own local land use decisions; and
WHEREAS, California Elections Code Section 9222 vests a City Council
with legal authority to place on a ballot any legislative matter within the subject matter
jurisdiction of the City Council; and
WHEREAS, on January 5, 2004, the City Council by unanimous vote
directed the City Attorney and staff to prepare ballot language and all necessary
documents to place the Monrovia Nursery Project entitlements, including a development
agreement, before the voters of the City of Azusa at a special election on May 4, 2004;
and
WHEREAS, the City Manager and the Community Development Director
provided the ballot questions to the City Attorney for preparation of the election
documents; and
WHEREAS, the City Attorney and staff prepared the required documents
and made them available with the posting of the agenda for the City Council's regular
meeting on January 20, 2004, in accordance with the City's established procedures and
the Ralph M. Brown Act; and
WHEREAS, on Thursday, January 16, 2004, members of the public had
an opportunity to review the proposed ballot questions, including the entire text of the
proposed ordinances which would be enacted if the voters approve the ballot questions;
and
WHEREAS, the City Council took public testimony and comment on each
of the agenda items; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Azusa has a sincere desire to
seek the opinion of the voters of the City of Azusa on the issue of the Monrovia Nursery
Project without delay caused by litigation.
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NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AZUSA,
CALIFORNIA, DOES RESOLVE, DECLARE, DETERMINE AND ORDER AS
FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The City Council placed the Monrovia Nursery Project ballot
questions regarding the land use entitlements and development agreement on a ballot
for a special election on May 4, 2004, because when it took such action on January 20,
2004, it was uncertain as to when there would be a final resolution of the ARG litigation.
SECTION 2. The City Council unanimously voted to place these
measures before the voters of the City of Azusa in an effort to bring final resolution on
the Monrovia Nursery Project.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 15th day of March, 2004.
ATTEST:
Candace Toscano, Assistant City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
By:
Bes Best & Krie ,er LLP
City �ttorney
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Dick Stanford, M yor Pro -tempore
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I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution No. 04-C21 was duly adopted
by the City Council of the City of Azusa, at a regular meeting thereof, held on the 15th
day of March, 2004 by the following vote of the Board.
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: HARDISON, STANFORD, ROCHA, CHAGNON,
MADRID
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE
Candace Toscano, Assistant City Clerk
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nursery reso.doc
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