By Whitney Vickers

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FAIRBORN — The Greene County Board of Elections will hold a hearing in regards to a referendum protest that could ultimately determine if the CEMEX property rezone will appear on the March 2016 ballot.

Citizens opposed to the rezoning collected more than 1,000 signatures in the fall that would allow the referendum to be filed in hopes of having citizens vote on the matter; 722 were required, while the Greene County Board of Elections verified 731.

However, a handful of signatures are allegedly false.

“The hearing is to determine whether or not the petition is valid,” Greene County Board of Elections Director Llyn McCoy said. “We can’t re-check it, but now we will have a hearing to determine if indeed any of those signatures should not have been counted.”

The petition was filed and sent to the Greene County Board of Elections for signature verification. At that point, the petition was sent back to the city, but the Greene County Board of Elections was asked to re-examine the signatures, which is not permissible by law, elections officials were told by the county prosecutor’s office.

The hearing is scheduled 9 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016 at a yet-to-be-determined location.

Whitney Vickers | Greene County News The CEMEX property was annexed from Xenia Township into the City of Fairborn. The more than 600 acres was later rezoned by council from agricultural use to mining use, which has caused a local controversy.

http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2015/12/web1_DSC_0882.jpgWhitney Vickers | Greene County News The CEMEX property was annexed from Xenia Township into the City of Fairborn. The more than 600 acres was later rezoned by council from agricultural use to mining use, which has caused a local controversy.