Statehouse bill would lower signature threshold for local referendum challenges from 35% to 20%

For Mentor residents seeking to challenge a City Council development or zoning decision at the ballot box, gathering enough signatures can be the decisive hurdle. A bill sponsored by Rep. Ty D. Mathews, a Republican representing Ohio House District 83, would lower that bar for local ordinances from 35% to 20% — although its effect on Mentor's charter-based referendum process remains uncertain.

House Bill 985 would base the petition requirement on the number of voters who cast ballots for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. The bill has passed the Ohio House after moving through the House Local Government Committee and the full chamber during the 136th General Assembly.

"It's now lowering that 35% down to 20% of signatures that you would need to get on the ballot," Mathews said.

Under current state law, a petition seeking a referendum on a municipal ordinance must include signatures from 35% of those electors. HB 985 would lower that requirement for township zoning referendums and municipal and village ordinances while leaving statewide ballot measures, charter communities, and the 8% threshold for ordinary county zoning referendums unchanged.

That charter exemption is critical for Mentor. The city operates under a charter approved by voters in 1960 that includes its own initiative and referendum powers. Whether HB 985 would change the process for Mentor residents depends on whether the city's referendum procedures are governed by the state statute the bill would amend or operate independently under the charter exemption.

The potential difference in signature requirements is substantial. Lake County recorded 94,527 votes in the November 2022 gubernatorial election. Using the scale of Mentor's electorate as a reference point, a municipal referendum petition under the current 35% threshold would require thousands of valid signatures; under the proposed 20% standard, that number would drop by nearly half.

The debate is especially relevant in Mentor, the largest city in Lake County by area at 26.64 square miles, stretching along the south shore of Lake Erie. Recent and historic votes show how residents have used their charter's referendum authority. In November 2025, voters rejected a proposal to rezone 8245 Deepwood Boulevard from R-4 single-family to R-10 multifamily for a planned 110-unit development on about 12.7 acres, voting "No" by 58.2% to 41.8% — 7,236 against and 5,197 in favor. In 1996, Mentor voters approved the Mentor Lagoons acquisition, which the city described as the first referendum action of its kind in Ohio.

HB 985 is aimed at the kind of petition hurdle that opponents of major projects say has become difficult to clear. Across Ohio, grassroots groups opposing data centers and large housing projects have struggled with the current 35% threshold.

A Findlay dispute illustrated the barrier. The grassroots group "Put It on The Ballot Findlay" filed referendum paperwork on June 8, 2026, challenging Findlay City Council ordinances that annexed the Shady Grove Golf Course and imposed M-2 multifamily high-density zoning for a planned 480-unit apartment complex. The group had to collect roughly 5,000 signatures from registered Findlay voters within a 30-day window because House Bill 96 had increased the local referendum threshold from 10% to 35% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. After 24 days, the drive fell short. Organizers would have easily met Ohio's former 10% standard but were blocked by the 35% requirement.

Municipal governments have pushed back. The Ohio Municipal League testified against HB 985 at a March 4, 2026, House Local Government Committee hearing.

House Bill 985 now awaits action in the Ohio Senate. Mathews hopes to attach it to another bill before the General Assembly adjourns in December 2026.

If the measure becomes law, residents elsewhere in Ohio could face a significantly lower barrier when seeking public votes on local development decisions. For Mentor, the practical effect will hinge on whether the city's charter-based procedures are controlled by the state law HB 985 would amend or remain independent under the bill's charter-community exemption.