Legally speaking, the City of Springfield’s official position is that Galloway Village Neighborhood Association’s latest petition won’t hold up in court.
Tensions between the two sides go back years. Primarily, they include a court battle over a proposed mixed-use development, which culminated in a 2022 referendum election.
In that referendum, more than 70 percent of city voters sided with Galloway — against the development plan. Then, in 2023, a Galloway resident challenged the incumbent Springfield mayor at the ballot box — and lost.
The issues today also center on a new development proposal in the highly coveted southside neighborhood.
Last month, Springfield City Council voted 8-to-1 to approve the preliminary plat (or layout) for a proposed subdivision, Chimney Rock. Chimney Rock would be located inside Galloway neighborhood association’s borders. And it would include 40 houses placed on 8.7 acres — a much more dense design than subdivisions nearby. Meanwhile, the plat calls for an existing cul-de-sac road to be fully opened up to car traffic.
Neighborhood residents like Sonja Shaw oppose these changes.
"We don't want to see neighborhoods change so drastically," Shaw told reporters outside of Springfield's Busch building before dropping off 1,996 signatures to the Springfield City Clerk for verification. "We want to have some input on what’s going in. It needs to at least be complementary to adjoining neighborhoods. And we’ve always said too, we’re not against development. And I want to make that very clear.”
The city charter says a successful referendum petition requires signatures from at least 10 percent of the total number of voters in the most recent general municipal election. Shaw and her fellow Galloway petitioners told reporters Tuesday they estimate they’ll need just over 1,600 verified signatures.
The charter also says that if the required number of signatures is verified, a referendum petition means City Council must either repeal the ordinance in question, or submit it to city voters for an up-or-down choice at the ballot box.
Shaw was accompanied by Melanie Bach, the former Springfield mayor candidate who’s also president of the Galloway neighborhood association. Another Galloway advocate, Wendy Baker Huscher, joined them on their trip to the clerk’s office.
With a little friendly banter, Clerk Anita Cotter quickly stamped "RECEIVED" on the petition signatures and signed off on them.
However, the city’s position is that the type of bill passed last month by council, which authorizes the Chimney Rock plat layout, can’t be subjected to a referendum.
The ordinance in question is “administrative” or “ministerial” — as opposed to “legislative.” An “administrative” bill implements an existing law, rather than creating new rules that must be followed.
“It is well-established law that administrative acts are not subject to referendum,” the city said in part, in a written statement sent to the petitioners — and also sent to Ozarks Public Radio — citing a 1963 case decided by the Missouri Supreme Court.
In that case, the court held that putting any ordinance up for a referendum vote — whether administrative or legislative — “could result in chaos and the bringing of the machinery of government to a halt.”
As they hopped on the elevator outside the Clerk’s office, the Galloway group said so far they’re satisfied with the process.
Bach said, "Yes, that was the first obstacle and we’re past it, so that’s a big relief. I know you guys asked about the future, but with these types of things, we learned at Galloway that you got to take it one step at a time and just see what comes next.”
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