Bethel Twp. rezoning issue not on ballot after missed deadline; trustees say delay not intentional
Tuesday night Bethel Township leaders admitted they made a mistake.
This comes after the township trustees missed the deadline to send a petition to the board of elections.
Residents said they got enough signatures to dispute trustees approving rezoning farmland so contractors could build houses on the land.
Tuesday evening more than a dozen people packed to a small community building to make their voices heard. Many wanted to know what went wrong.
The land at the center of the rezoning is 30 acres in the area of Dayton Brandt and Agenbroad roads.
Mike Arnold, the Bethel Township and Zoning administrator said last June D.A. Bowman Construction put in an application to re-zone the area.
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Arnold said the township trustees ultimately approved the plans during an Oct. 25 meeting.
The township said on Nov. 22 the trustees received a petition for a referendum for this rezoning.
The petition would allow this to be put on the ballot and have voters decide on the issue.
Trustees had to vote on this within 14 days but did so in 16 days, therefore the Miami County Board of Elections did not certify the petition.
“They failed the community because they didn’t follow the law and now they’re using excuses,” Michele Pfrogner of Bethel Township said.
During the meeting Tuesday the trustees said they simply dropped the ball and that the decision was not intentional.
They said some of the reasons were holiday schedules, people being out of office and misleading information from the Miami County Prosecutor’s office about the deadline.
The township said in a social media post that they reached out to the Miami County Prosecutor’s office for an opinion on the matter, which took almost two weeks.
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“The prosecutor also stated that missing the 14-day requirement was not a significant issue, but to certify it as soon as possible. However, the same prosecutor later gave the opposite opinion when the Board of Elections asked for an opinion,” the post states.
“We will never do this again, we will definitely dot our eyes and cross our Ts and be very intentional about all the dates that are on there. We didn’t, we simply didn’t this time,” Bethel Township Trustee Beth van Harren said.
Even though the trustees apologized, some residents said they are still skeptical.
“What I hope for is our voices are heard and if that’s through somehow the board of elections changing their minds (about) what they voted ... our voices need to be heard and people need to know what’s going on in this township. It’s not right,” Pfrogner said.
Next Wednesday people will have an opportunity to voice their concerns in front of the board of elections and the board could reconsider the petition.
If it does, it would be the rezoning on hold.
