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Posted: 4:11 PM- HEBER CITY - The Wasatch County Clerk Monday certified as valid a petition aimed at putting before voters a referendum on whether retail outlets up to 150,000 square feet can be located with Heber City limits.
Of more than 1,600 signatures submitted to Heber City, 1,424 were deemed to be registered voters living within city limits, said County Clerk Brent Titcomb.
A grass-roots organization, "Put Heber Valley First," needed 1,160 to get the measure on November's ballot.
"That's great," said Ken McConnell, a member of the group that launched the petition after a Heber City Council vote to allow big-box retail. "Now it's up to the citizens. The majority rules."
If voters give thumbs down to the commercial over-lay zone that allows big-box retail, it would scrap a 70-acre mixed-use plan put forth by The Boyer Co. development firm. That proposal outlines a 148,000-square-foot Wal-Mart and a 140,000-square-foot home improvement outlet, as well as 11 acres of affordable housing, among other things. It would be located between State Road 189 and 1000 South west of Main Street.
"If the ordinance is invalidated, it's back to the drawing board," said Mayor David Phillips. "We'll have to determine what kind of commercial can go there. It will have to be a lot smaller."