A referendum petition on a Worthington zoning change that would have allowed a new apartment complex in the city has enough valid signatures to appear on voters' ballots in November 2027, the city announced Oct. 7.
Residents will vote then to approve or disapprove Worthington City Council's July 20 vote to rezone 445 East Dublin Granville Road
– the site of a $52.4 million, 248-unit housing development planned by builder Elford Development next fall.Under Ohio law, citizens can call referendums on most votes of local city councils as long as they gather a number of signatures equal to or greater than 35% of the number of city voters who voted
in the last gubernatorial election. A citizen group, Democracy Before Developers, gathered signatures for the petition for two months before submitting a slate of 3,476 valid signatures out of 3,976 gathered to the board of elections. The threshold to get the referendum on the ballot was 3,017 valid signatures.
Democracy Before Developers did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
In its social media announcement,the City of Worthington said the housing development would remain "in question" until voters consider the zoning change next year. It also acknowledged that nearly 40% of voters signed the petition to pause the project.
The land for the housing development is currently owned by disability nonprofit I Am Boundless, which planned to sell the land to Elford Development. I Am Boundless agreed to retain its existing jobs and expand its workforce by 65-80 jobs as a part of the project.
I Am Boundless did not respond to a request for comment.
The 2027 general election will be held on Nov. 2.
Reporter Nathan Hart can be reached at NHart@dispatch.com, @NathanRHart on X and nathanhart.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Zoning change for Worthington's I Am Boundless housing project to appear on 2027 ballots
