RICHFIELD, Utah (AP) - A state judge has halted a referendum on plans to build a coal-fired power plant in central Utah.
Sixth District Judge Wallace Lee said Tuesday that the planned vote doesn't comply with a law enacted this year that prohibits local initiatives on changes to land use ordinances.
An attorney representing those supporting the referendum says all of the signatures were submitted two days before the new law - Senate Bill 53 - took effect May 5.
But Sevier County commissioners didn't allow the referendum to advance to the ballot until July.
"Judge Lee felt that SB53 was in effect at the time of our initiative because the County Commission took no action on it until July 7," said Jeff Owens, the attorney for the Right To Vote committee. "I disagree. On May 3, my clients did the last thing they could possibly do and it was out of their hands at that point."
The group wanted a public vote on plans to build a 270-megawatt electric plant on 300 acres between Interstate 70 and Sigurd, about 160 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Owens said local residents connected with Right To Vote are considering an appeal.
Fred Finlinson, an attorney representing Sevier Power Co., said he was pleased with Lee's decision.
The power company plans to pursue county approvals for the project.
Lee, who ruled from the bench after oral arguments, did not address whether SB53 is constitutional. That decision will likely be left to the state Supreme Court in addressing a separate lawsuit over the proposed Mount Holly resort near Beaver.
The Utah attorney general's office has said the courts may strike the law down as unconstitutional because it restricts the power of local initiatives and referendums.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
