[Ord. No. 12-2005, 9-6-2005, elec. 11-8-2005]
a. 
Initiative. The registered voters of the City of Belfast shall have the power to propose ordinances, motions and resolves to the City Council and, if the City Council fails to adopt such so proposed without any change in substance, to adopt or reject it in a City election. Such power shall not extend to the budget or capital improvement program or any other ordinance relating to appropriation of money, levy of taxes or salaries of City officers or employees.
b. 
Referendum. The registered voters of the City shall have the power to require reconsideration by the City Council of any adopted ordinance, motion, or resolve, and if the City Council fails to repeal such as was reconsidered, to approve or reject it at a City election. Such power shall not extend to the budget or capital improvement program or any emergency or ordinance relating to appropriation of money or levy of taxes.
c. 
Recall. Any member of the Belfast City Council, School Board Director elected from Belfast to MSAD #34 or any other elected City official may be recalled and removed from elected office by the voters of the City as herein provided.
d. 
Procedure. Any petition for the reconsideration of any adopted ordinance, motion, or resolve shall be filed within 20 business days after the enactment or passage of such ordinance, motion, or resolve.
[e.]
Exceptions. The powers and procedures described herein in Article VII shall not extend to any Land Use Ordinance, Zoning Ordinance nor Comprehensive Plan, Policy or Procedure. All land use, zoning and comprehensive plan ordinances, policies and procedures shall be adopted, amended and reconsidered, solely pursuant to the procedures and authority of Title 30-A M.R.S.A., as amended from time to time.
Any five registered voters may commence initiative, referendum or recall proceedings by filing with the City Clerk an affidavit stating that those voters will constitute the Petitioners' Committee and be responsible for circulating the petition and filing it in proper form, stating their names and addresses and specifying the address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent, and setting out in full the proposed initiative to be considered or reconsidered, the proposed ordinance, motion, or resolve, to be approved or repealed, or the City Councilor or official to be recalled.
Promptly after the affidavit of the Petitioners' Committee if filed, the City Clerk shall issue the appropriate petition blanks to the Petitioners' Committee.
a. 
Number of signatures. Initiative, referendum or recall petitions must be signed by at least 20% of the registered voters in the City of Belfast at the time the petition is taken out.
b. 
Form and content. All petition papers shall be printed, assembled, and completed in accordance with the provisions of the M.R.S.A. Title 30-A M.R.S.A. § 2102(b) [excluding (B)(1) and (2)] and including (B), (3), and (c) as amended from time to time.
c. 
Affidavit of circulator. Each paper of a petition shall have attached to it when filed an affidavit executed by the person circulating it stating that said person has personally circulated the paper, the number of signatures thereon, that all signatures were affixed in that circulator's presence, the circulator believes them to be genuine signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be and that each signer had an opportunity before signing to read the full text of the ordinance proposed or sought to be reconsidered.
d. 
Time for filing referendum petitions. Referendum petitions must be filed in the City Clerk's office within 20 business days after adoption by the City Council of the ordinance sought to be reconsidered.
a. 
Certificate of City Clerk; sufficiency of petition. Within 20 business days after the petition is filed, the City Clerk shall complete a certificate as to its sufficiency, specifying, if it is insufficient, the particulars wherein it is defective and shall promptly send a copy of the certificate to the Petitioners' Committee by certified mail, return receipt requested. A petition certified insufficient for lack of the required number of valid signatures may be amended once if the Petitioners' Committee files a notice of intention to amend it with the City Clerk within three business days after receiving the copy of the City Clerk's certificate and files a supplementary petition upon additional papers within 10 business days after receiving the copy of such certificate. Such supplementary petition shall comply with the requirements of subsections (b) and (c) of Section 3 [of Article VII] above, and within five business days after it is filed the City Clerk shall complete a supplemental certificate as to the sufficiency of the supplementary petition as amended and promptly send a copy of such certificate to the Petitioners' Committee by certified mail, return receipt requested as in the case of the original petition. If a petition or amended petition is certified sufficient, or if a petition or amended petition is certified insufficient and the Petitioners' Committee does not elect to amend or request City Council review under subsection (b) of this section within the time required, the City Clerk shall promptly present the certificate to the City Council and the certificate shall then be a final determination as to the sufficiency of the petition.
b. 
Council review. If a petition has been certified insufficient and the Petitioners' Committee does not file notice of intention to amend it or if an amended petition has been certified insufficient, the Committee may, within two business days after receiving the copy of such certificate, file a request that it be reviewed by the City. The City Council shall review the certificate at its next regular meeting following the filing of such request and approve or disapprove it, and the City Council's determination shall be the final determination as to the sufficiency of the petition.
c. 
Court review; new petition. The final determination as to the sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to court review. A final determination of insufficiency, even if sustained upon court review, shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition for the same purpose.
a. 
When a referendum petition is certified as sufficient by the City Clerk, the ordinance sought to be reconsidered shall be suspended from taking effect. Such suspension shall terminate when:
(1) 
The Petitioners' Committee withdraws the petition, or
(2) 
The City Council repeals the ordinance.
(3) 
The City voters reject the referendum article at the City election.
b. 
Upon a certified petition application, the City Clerk will immediately notify, in writing, the City Council, the ordinance-initiating board, committee or department, and all applicants and all landowners with land abutting, concerned or affected by that contested prohibitive or enabling ordinance, that such a petition process is being initiated. This notification shall advise all concerned that activities conducted within the period of certification and ultimate public vote will be at their own risk and subject to cancellation or removal should a referendum either repeal or approve the contested ordinance. Failure of the City to give this notice shall not invalidate the results of the City election.
a. 
Action by the City Council. When an initiative, referendum or recall petition has been finally determined sufficient, the City Council shall promptly consider the proposed initiative ordinance in the manner provided in Article II of this Charter or reconsider the referred ordinance, motion, or resolve, by voting its repeal. If the City Council fails to adopt a proposed initiative ordinance without any change in substance within 40 business days or fails to repeal the referred ordinance within 20 business days after the date the petition was finally determined sufficient, it shall submit the proposed or referred ordinance to the voters of the City.
b. 
Submission to the voters. The vote of the City on a proposed or referred ordinance, motion, or resolve, shall be held not less than 20 business days and not later than 130 business days from the date of the final City Council vote thereon. If no regular City election is held within the period prescribed in this subsection, the City Council shall provide for a special election; otherwise the vote shall be held at the same time as such regular election, except that the City Council may in its discretion provide for a special election at an earlier date within the prescribed period. Copies of the proposed or referred ordinance shall be made available at the polls.
The vote of the City on a recall petition shall be held not less than 20 business days and not later than 130 business days from the date that the recall petition has been finally determined sufficient. If no regular City election is held within the period prescribed in this subsection, then the City Council shall provide for a special election in the same manner set forth above for an initiative or referendum upon a petition.
c. 
Withdrawal of petitions. An initiative or referendum petition may be withdrawn at any time prior to the fifteenth-day preceding the day scheduled for a vote of the City by filing with the City Clerk a request for withdrawal signed by at least four members of the Petitioners' Committee. Upon filing of such request the petition shall have no further force or effect and all proceedings thereon shall be terminated.
a. 
Initiative. If a plurality of the registered voters voting on a proposed ordinance, motion, or resolve vote in its favor, it shall be considered adopted upon certification of the election results and shall be treated in all respects in the same manner as ordinances of the same kind adopted by the City Council. If conflicting ordinances are approved at the same election, the one receiving the greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail to the extent of such conflict.
b. 
Referendum. If a plurality of the registered voters voting on a proposed ordinance, motion, or resolve, vote against it, it shall be considered repealed upon certification of the election results.
c. 
Recall. Effective immediately, if a plurality of the registered voters in a recall election vote in favor of recalling such City councilor, school board director, or other elected official, that City councilor, school board director, or other elected official shall be removed from office. If such City councilor, school board director, or other elected official has had less than six months remaining in the term of office to which same has been elected, the office shall be unfilled until the next municipal election. If the recalled City councilor, school board director, or other elected official has more than six months remaining in the term of office, the candidate to replace the recalled City councilor for the balance of the unexpired term shall be provided as determined in State Election Laws.