Must Sulphur hold a binding vote on a zoning ordinance after a valid charter referendum petition and council refusal?

Plain-English summary

Sulphur's city attorney asked whether enough voter signatures under the city's home-rule charter would require an election on passing or repealing a zoning ordinance. In Opinion 03-0359, the AG said yes, if the charter's signature and procedural conditions were met and the city council refused to act. The vote would be binding; the charter did not describe a nonbinding straw poll.

The AG expressly based its answer on the charter excerpts supplied with the request, because it did not have the full charter. The conclusion therefore depended on those quoted provisions.

Currency note

The full issue date is not legible in the available official extract. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

What the opinion meant at issuance

Petition organizers

Under the quoted charter, electors could propose passage or repeal of ordinances and vote if the council refused action. The AG said the required signatures and the remaining charter steps had to be satisfied before the city was obligated to submit the zoning question.

City council and election staff

The quoted charter treated adopting or modifying zoning plans, maps, and regulations as ordinance actions. LA. R.S. 18:1299 required a voter proposition to have authority in the constitution, a statute, or a home-rule charter. The AG found the supplied charter provisions adequate for this binding vote.

Common questions

Would a petition automatically trigger a zoning vote?

No. The opinion required the signature and other charter procedures, including the council first refusing to take the requested action.

Could the city make it a nonbinding straw vote instead?

The AG said no on the submitted charter language. It read the charter as providing a binding vote on ordinance passage or repeal.

Did the AG review Sulphur's entire charter?

No. The letter said it lacked full access to the charter and based its answer on the supplied excerpts.

Background and statutory framework

LA. R.S. 18:1299 required legal authority to submit questions to voters. The quoted Sulphur charter allowed electors to propose or repeal ordinances after council refusal, and its zoning provision required ordinance action for zoning plans and regulations. The AG applied both provisions to the petition scenario.

Citations and references

• LA. R.S. 18:1299: authority for ballot propositions.
• Sulphur Home Rule Charter, Sections 2-11 and 6-01: ordinance and referendum provisions quoted in the opinion.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0359

Original opinion text

One American Place
301 Main Street, Suite 600
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. Box 94005
C,WL D,WS~ON
TEL.: (22.5) 342-7013
BATON ROUGE
FAX: (225) 342-2090

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-900.5
ATrORNEY GENERAL

NO /1 4 2003
OPINION NUMBER 03-0359

35ELECTIONS - Calling or ordering notice & holding; Municipal general elections - time & place of holding 71-1-B MUNICIPALITIES - Home Rule Charter
Skipper M. Drost
174 ZONING
Pursuant to LA. R.S. 18:1299, questions may be submitted
City of Sulphur Attorney & Prosecutor
to voters dudng an election provided that such a process is
P.O. Box 1309
authorized by the state constitution, by a etatute of this
state, or by a home rule charter.
Sulphur, LA 70664-1309

Dear Mr. Drost:

You have requested an opinion as to whether the City of Sulphur is obligated to place the passage or repeal of an ordinance to a vote of the electors, if the elector obtains the necessary signatures as specified in the City’s home rule charter. You have included in your opinion request several exhibits, which leads to an inference that a referendum would be required. Since we do not have full access to the City of Sulphur’s Home Rule Charter, our opinion is based only on the portions you have provided.

Louisiana law clearly mandates that any proposition or question submitted to the voters must be authorized by "the state constitution, by a statute of this state, or by home rule charter." LA. REV. STAT. 18:1299 (2003). The applicable portions of Sulphur’s Home Rule Charter submitted to our office reads as follows:

Section 2-11. Action Requiring an Ordinance

A. An act of the council having the force of law shall be by ordinance.
An act requiring an ordinance shall include but not be limited to those which:
...(16) Adopt or modify the zoning plan, maps and regulations.

ARTICLE VI. INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM, RECALL AND REMOVAL BY SUIT.

Section 6-01. Initiative and Referendum

The electors of the City shall have the power, except as herein restricted, to propose to the council passage or repeal of ordinances and to vote on the question it the council refuses action. This power shall not extend to the proposing or repealing of ordinances making or reducing the

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OPINION NUMBER 03-0359
Skipper M. Drost
Page - 2 -
appropriation of money, to the repeal or reduction of the levy of any taxes or to change the salaries of City government officers or employees. The initiative power shall be exercised in the following manner...

Assuming all of the signatures are obtained and the proper procedures are followed, your specific inquiry is whether the City of Sulphur is obligated to place the passage or repeal of the zoning ordinance to a vote of the electors. Under Exhibit "A," there was mention that this zoning ordinance proposition may be intended to serve as a non- binding referendum or "straw-vote." As previously stated in Attorney General Opinion No. 82-710, "the election process is not the proper mechanism to obtain the public’s opinion, as opposed to a definitive determination of the public’s will." Additionally, Article VI, Section 6-01, does not contain language that would infer the election would not be binding. In fact, Section 6-01 of Sulphur’s Home Rule Charter specifically states "[t]he electors...shall have the power...to propose...passage or repeal of ordinances and to vote on the question..." Furthermore, subsection (A)(16) of section 2-11 (see above) specifically mandates that zoning planning be governed by the passage and repeal of ordinances. Therefore, a binding election, including the passage or repeal of the zoning ordinance, should be put before the community of registered voters.

Since Sulphur’s Home Rule Charter allows the council to accept or refuse the action, this contingency of Section 6-01 must be met before the voting process can begin. It would be at this point that steps (1) through (9) of Section 6-01 would be pursued. This unique process is not only in compliance with LA. R.S. 18:1299, but also coincides with Attorney General Opinion No. 95-159. After finding no authority in the St. Bernard Home Rule Charter for such an election, the opinion noted:

However, if the increase in the Parish President’s salary were to be implemented by an amendment to the Home Rule Charter (rather than by referendum or ordinance of the council), then the proposed charter amendment could be, and legally must be, submitted to the electors of the Parish for their approval. Such submission should be in accordance with any other applicable provisions of your charter relating to the procedure for submitting charter amendments to the voters.

Therefore, it is clearly within the power of the parish to "adopt or modify the zoning plan, maps and regulations" by ordinance. Moreover the electors have the power, after the council refuses to take action, to pass or repeal ordinances by voting. Accordingly, it is the opinion of this office that if the elector is successful in obtaining the necessary signatures as provided in Section 6-01(2), as well as other provisions, then the City of Sulphur is obligated to place the passage or repeal of the zoning ordinance to a vote of the electors.

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OPINION NUMBER 03-0359
Skipper M. Drost
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Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

A~ GI~’~G ERS LAPLACE
Assistar~t/Attorney General

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