Referendum petition is being circulated on a recent Defiance City Council ordinance

A referendum petition is being circulated on a recent Defiance City Council ordinance that allowed a debated alley vacation request in the 600 block of Jefferson Avenue. The ordinance, approved on Feb. 14, vacated the northern portion of the north-south alley between Arabella and Juliet streets — running parallel to Jefferson and Wayne avenues — as well as an east-west alley running to Jefferson Avenue. Proponents contended that closing the alley would enhance the safety of children at St. John Lutheran School, which was one of the adjacent property owners requesting the vacation. However, a petition from David and Kelly McMaster, and Roxane Morton was turned in to the city finance director’s last week, asking that city voters be allowed to decide the ordinance’s fate. Petition circulators have until March 16 — 30 days from the ordinance’s passage — to provide signed petitions to the finance office.