By BEX Staff for AZBEX
Opponents of a planned “road diet” project approved by the City of Page, and opponents of other local and regional projects around the state, have been handed a major victory by the Arizona Supreme Court.
The Court’s ruling in Roundtree, et al. v City of Page, et al. affirms residents of Arizona’s cities, towns and counties have the right to propose laws that nullify those put in place by elected officials. This applies even if elected officials have enacted a redevelopment plan and set staff to work on implementing it.
According to a summary by Capitol Media Services, the case stems from a fight over a plan enacted by the City of Page to rework a 1.4-mile section of roadway in the downtown area for the Page Streetscape Project, which would have removed two of four travel lanes on Lake Powell Blvd. in the business district, widened sidewalks and added parking to make the strip more attractive for tourists. The project was planned as an economic development measure to increase downtown business and drive activity to help counter some of the hardship the area has experienced since the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station and Keyenta Mine ceased operations and ended 500 jobs.
Officials shifted local efforts to focus more on tourism, including the City-operated Horseshoe Bend Colorado River overlook and the Navajo Nation’s Antelope Canyon. The Page Streetscape Project would have been undertaken to make the city center more attractive to tourists and promote spending at local businesses.
The plan had been developed over the course of eight years. Page had put up more than $5M in local funds and had also received a $5M federal grant for the project.
Plaintiff Deborah Roundtree and others launched a petition drive to put canceling the project on the ballot. Their opposition was rooted in the loss of the travel lanes and the potential for traffic gridlock when locals and tourists—many of whom have campers, trailers or large vehicles—attempted to navigate the narrowed roadway.
The initiative read: The citizens of Page, Arizona do hereby find and determine that it is in the best interest of the citizens to maintain the size and number of traffic lanes at Laek [sic] Powell Boulevard from Rim View Drive to Aspen Street as presently existed on October 1, 2023. And further, that making changes that degrade the usefulness of this portion of road is wasteful of the public fisc and harmful to the general welfare.
Neither public resources of the City nor outside funds from any source shall be used in anyway [sic] to facilitate, encourage, support, or actualize a reduction in the number of lanes or size of Lake Powell Boulevard between Rim View Drive and Aspen Street from the current size and number of lanes.
The City rejected the ballot measure, saying the road widening was an administrative decision, not a legislative one, and was therefore not subject to a referendum.
A trial court and the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the City. Current Supreme Court Justice Maria Elena Cruz wrote the Appeals Court decision and was recused from the Supreme Court’s consideration. The remainder of the Supreme Court disagreed with the lower courts in a unanimous ruling.
The new ruling found the citizens’ initiative was legislative in nature and reaffirmed citizens’ right to propose their own laws as stated in the Arizona Constitution.
In the Supreme Court opinion, Justice Clint Bolick wrote, “The foundational principle that informs this case is that the people’s power to make laws is co-equal to their elected representatives’ authority to create legislation…. But it is not without limit. As explained below, we agree with the City that initiatives must be legislative in nature. But because we conclude that the Initiative proposes legislation, it is a proper matter for the City’s voters to decide.”
Bolick also said, “The Initiative expressly creates public policy — preserving Lake Powell Boulevard as it existed on October 1, 2023; and the means of accomplishing that policy — preventing the use of public funds to narrow the specified portion of the road. The fact that this reflects a change in public policy does not alter its legislative character. “
The Court ordered the referendum to be put on the ballot but did not declare a specific election date.
The ruling raised concerns among local officials around the state. League of Arizona Cities and Towns General Council Nancy Davidson said it makes roadway projects around the state—many of which involve multiple jurisdictions, departments and agencies—vulnerable.
She said the ruling could allow street projects “projects to be basically second guessed by the electorate every single time” and, “It could just really wreak havoc on any type of infrastructure planning, especially now that we’re going through so much growth.”
The Page City Council voted to end the project last month. Roundtree and other opponents had won Council seats in the last election. It could, however, theoretically be revived at some future point unless the initiative passes.