Referendum on the lakeshore 650 annexation
In September 2024, the STOPLAKESHORE650 grassroots citizen committee filed an application to petition a referendum on the annexation of 652 acres of land owned by the Fain Signature Group, for the purpose of developing a high-density master-planned community.
On Thursday, October 10, 2024, representatives from the STOPLakeshore650 citizen committee delivered boxes of signed petitions to the office of the Prescott Valley Town Clerk. Upon completion of the count and recount, the Town Clerk presented the Committee with a receipt for 379 petitions containing 4,563 signatures, far exceeding the 1,455 signatures required for placement of the referendum on a future ballot..
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.
Fain Signature Group falsely claims that Lakeshore650 is pioneering water neutral development (WND), supports the environment and addresses our water needs.
The most basic premise of WND is that every drop of captured and reclaimed water is directed back into the aquifer and not reused for any purpose. The Master Development Plan which calls for irrigation of extensive landscaping illustrates that Lakeshore650 will NOT be a water neutral development. A WND demonstration project has not been written into the agreements and it is not known whether the WND concept will work on the terrain of LS650.
Every new home and business consumes groundwater. To develop a high-density community of 3500 housing units, commercial space, parks, and athletic fields on land that had been zoned for approximately 300 single-family homes does not support the environment nor address our water needs. Rather, it will significantly strain our limited groundwater supply which has already been impacted by decades of overpumping by municipal water providers.
Canvassers (referred to as "activists" by FSG) asking for signatures on the petition are giving citizens a chance to be included in the decision-making process. The referendum would give citizens an opportunity to cast a vote for or against annexation. The "Decline to Sign" messaging by the Fain Signature Group would DENY CITIZENS AN OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE on the question of annexation.