PHOENIX —Whether a referendum seeking to overturn the Graham County Board of Supervisors’ decision to rezone land in Bonita to allow an indoor marijuana growing operation will go before the voters remains up in the air.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John R. Hannah ruled Friday that 1,077 signatures on petitions circulated by paid gatherer Keith Leonard were invalid because Leonard did not include his actual address on the petitions per state law.
However, the judge said another 12 signatures plaintiffs believe are invalid because the signers do not appear in the Graham County voter rolls must be given a separate filing in order to give the defense a chance to challenge.
During Friday’s hearing, Leonard listed his address as an apartment in Missouri. He testified he had been living with his former girlfriend at the apartment, and the pair ended the relationship before he left to gather signatures in Arizona.
Leonard’s former girlfriend also testified the couple ended their relationship before his leaving for Arizona, and there was no plan for his return to the apartment they previously shared. She also testified that she moved from the apartment about two weeks before Leonard first gathered signatures in Arizona.
The apartment complex’s manager testified that Leonard was not on the lease for the apartment, and the manager had no record of his living at that location.
The Maricopa County group identified as Respect The Will Of The People: Graham County Voters & The Arizona Public Integrity Alliance Encourages A No Vote On Massive Marijuana Expansion In Our Area gathered 2,288 signatures to overturn the Graham County Board of Supervisors’ June 21, 2021, decision to rezone two greenhouse sites in Bonita from general land use (A zoning) to unlimited manufacturing land use (M-X zoning), which would allow for marijuana growing in those greenhouse sites.
A total of 141 signatures were held to be invalid at a motion for summary judgment hearing on April 15. With the 1,077 signatures ruled invalid Friday, that leaves 1,070 valid signatures remaining. A minimum of 1,064 valid signatures are needed to qualify the referendum for the ballot.
However, the plaintiff’s counsel said both sides agreed to stipulate that an additional 12 signatures were invalid due to the signers not being on the Graham County voter rolls, which would drop the number of valid signatures to 1058, six short of qualifying.
Defense counsel argued it needs time to verify whether those signatures are, in fact, invalid, so Judge Hannah directed the plaintiffs to file a supplemental motion to rule on the 12 signatures in question.
The plaintiffs have until April 25 to file, and defense has until May 2 to respond. Should there be disagreement, plaintiffs can respond by May 7 and Judge Hannah said he would rule as quickly as possible thereafter.
The rezoning was requested by NatureSweet Tomatoes, the owner of the greenhouse complexes in Bonita, in order to sell the complexes to Bayacan. Bayacan principals announced their intention to use the greenhouses to grow medicinal cannabis.
Bayacan officials said the company is seeking to hire 150 people for the first phase of development at one of the greenhouse complexes, at a starting salary of about $35,000 per year plus benefits. At build-out, the company expects to employ about 600 for operations. The numbers would double if the second greenhouse complex comes online.
NatureSweet announced plans to turn its remaining greenhouse complexes into a research and development facility, using the funds from the sale.
