Court Hearing Over Flagstaff Proposition 480 To Be Ruled On By Friday Afternoon

Lawyers for Northern Arizona Healthcare, the City of Flagstaff and Flagstaff Community First were in a Coconino County Superior courtroom Thursday for an Order to Show Cause hearing regarding Proposition 480. NAH claims the referendum that voters signed to get Prop 480 on the ballot says “the site will be used to construct retail and commercial space, with no intention of health care facilities.” Flagstaff Community First says they took the ordinance word for word as it was passed by the Flagstaff City Council, however doesn’t mention the future hospital project on the petition. NAH attorney Daniel Arellano says if the group just did that, there would be no objective. He says “if they were getting into what the permitted uses are, they have to do so accurately and that’s what they failed to do here.” Judge Brent Harris asks Arellano if they had put hospital on the petition would there be a hearing? Arellano says “if they would have added the word “hospital” and omitted or taken out the language regarding retail, I don’t think we would be here today.” Flagstaff Community First lawyer Jacqueline Mendez Soto disagrees with Arellano’s reasoning saying, “so long as the principal provisions are described, or summarized in that summary, that is all what it takes, we don’t have to describe every provision.” Judge Harris told the court that he will release an opinion on the matter by 1:30 p.m. Friday.