Referendum on the lakeshore 650 annexation 

As of November 7, 2024, the review of petition signatures by the Town Clerk and County Recorder had been completed and a receipt was issued to all parties certifying that the required number of signatures has been met. According to law, the referendum must now be placed on the ballot.

At the November 14 council meeting, on Agenda item "Call of Election, Referendum Petition R-01-2024 Lakeshore650" Council voted 4-2 to place the referendum on the November 2026 ballot.

Council discussed 3 potential dates of May 2025, August 2026 and November 2026.

Councilmembers Freund and Zurcher both stated that the majority of the constituents  they heard from preferred May 2025. 

Councilmembers Dickinson, Hunt, Palguta and Schumacher expressed concerns about the costs ($89k) of conducting a Special Election in May 2025. Town Clerk Fernandez reassured Council that $300k - $400k is budgeted annually for a Special Election contingency.

Council discussed the likelihood that a local General Election would not be needed in November 2026 if all council candidates and town ballot measures were decided in the 2026 Primary Election. In that scenario conductng a local 2026 General Election would cost the Town $160k.

Ultimately, Councilmember Schumacher made the motion to place the referendum on the November 2026 ballot resulting in the 4-2 decision with Freund and Zurcher voting "No" and Greer absent.

Council's decision prevents citizens from having the opportunity to vote on the referendum in a timely manner. Instead Council chose the latest possible choice (November 2026) forcing citizens to wait 2 years to have their voices heard on this matter.

The Referendum will allow citizens registered to vote in Prescott Valley the opportunity to cast a vote FOR or AGAINST the annexation of 652 acres for the development of a high-density master-planned community near Lakeshore Dr. and Fain Rd.

If annexation is voted down, the County zoning (RCU-2A: Single Family Rural Residential) will remain in place. County zoning would allow 1 single family residence per 2 acre minimum or approx 326 single family homes instead of the proposed 3500 mixed housing units plus commercial.

Roadblocks along the way

To achieve the required number of petition signatures within the 30 day timeframe, a dedicated group of over 40 citizen volunteers put in countless hours and overcame obstacles put in their way by the Town of Prescott Valley and the developer, Fain Signature Group.

The Town of Prescott Valley initially set the required number of petition signatures at 5,709. A Yavapai Superior Court Judge found this to be unconstitutional and ruled that the required number of signatures be 1,455 -  equal to 10% of the qualified electors who participated in the July 30, 2024 primary election. Details of the legal case are discuseed in the article, "Judge rules against the Town of Prescott Valley". and further documented in an article by Transparent Payson.

The Fain Signature Group’s “Decline to Sign” campaign included a barrage of text messages, robo-calls, neighborhood canvassing, radio ads and a team of paid “blockers”, set up alongside the citizens’ petition tables, all with the intent to discourage citizens from signing the petition.

Despite these efforts to block the success of the petition drive, the citizen volunteers succeeded in obtaining over 4,500 valid signatures in just 21 days, signifying strong public support in favor of a referendum to let the voters decide on the matter of annexation.

False Claims

In an attempt to block the referendum on the annexation of 652 acres for the Lakeshore650 high-density master planned community, Fain Signature Group distributed marketing pieces with false and misleading information. See sample below.