On Monday, the Wasatch County clerk certified as valid a petition aimed at putting a referendum on the Nov. 6 ballot to determine whether retailers can build stores up to 150,000 square feet within Heber City limits.

Of more than 1,600 signatures submitted, 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," breezed past the 1,160 total needed to get the measure on the ballot. The petition drive was launched after a Feb. 15 City Council vote that approved a commercial "overlay" zone allowing for big boxes. The previous limit on retailers was 60,000 square feet.

"That's great," Ken McConnell, a member of Put Heber Valley First, said Monday. "Now it's up to the citizens. The majority rules."

If Heber City voters give thumbs down to the commercial overlay zone that allows big-box retail, it would scrap a 70-acre mixed-use plan by The Boyer Co. development firm.

That proposal outlines a 148,000-square-foot Wal-Mart and a 140,000-square-foot home-improvement store, as well as 11 acres of affordable housing, among other things. It would be located just west of Main Street between State Route 189 and 1000 South.

"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."

The outcome of the November referendum is difficult to predict, the mayor said. In addition to the big-box decision, three council seats are up for grabs.

"This will be the topic of conversation during the campaign," he said. The referendum "might be a close call."

In 2005, Sandy residents voted by a thin margin to allow a Wal-Mart - the store is now open as part of another Boyer project after opponents successfully petitioned to put the issue on the ballot.

Boyer's Heber City project would be an economic "shot in the arm," Phillips said. On the other hand, some see it as hurting locally owned businesses.

"This is one of the great things about America," the mayor said. "This is the public's right to speak."

But no matter the outcome of the Heber City referendum, residents of Pleasant Valley Trailer Park - near the site of the proposed Wal-Mart - have to get out.

The 10-acre park, owned by Doug Heiner, is for sale and most likely will be purchased by Boyer. Residents of some 90 mobile homes have been served with eviction notices and must be out by June 30.

Ron Street, who has lived in the park for 17 years, said he knew something was going to happen eventually to the increasingly valuable property. Nonetheless, the 90-day notice makes it difficult.

"It's going to be hard to move," he said. "But we've got to get out. The petition is too little, too late."

Street does not fault Heiner, who tried to get other properties zoned for mobile parks. So far, neither Wasatch County nor Heber City has been willing to make way for a new one.

"They say we're a blight on the community," said Street's wife, Linda Street. "People think we're trailer trash. But we're not. This is just a more affordable place to live."

csmart@sltrib.com