TALLAHASSEE -- The state Supreme Court appeared to clear the way Wednesday for the controversial Florida Hometown Democracy constitutional amendment to go on the 2010 election ballot.
Justices, in a 4-2 decision, found unconstitutional a law that opponents have used to revoke Florida Hometown Democracy petition signatures.
The ruling appeared likely to ensure that supporters of the growth-management amendment will have the required 676,811 signatures to take the issue to voters.
Justices, in a brief ruling, said the signature-revocation law and related rules "violate the Florida Constitution and are void, unenforceable and without effect."
The court, which issued the ruling after business hours Wednesday, said it would release a more-detailed opinion later.
With more than 700,000 petition signatures submitted to the state, the major remaining question Wednesday was how soon elections officials would formally certify the amendment to the ballot.
Timing of the certification is important because petition signatures are only good for four years. Florida Hometown Democracy leaders have been concerned that a delay would cause some signatures to start being eliminated next week because they would reach the four-year time limit.
That could force supporters to collect additional petitions to replace the lost signatures.
Jennifer Krell Davis, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of State, said Wednesday night that elections officials needed to study the implications of the Supreme Court decision.
But Florida Hometown Democracy leaders have said the measure should be quickly certified. Palm Beach County attorney Lesley Blackner, who has spearheaded the amendment effort, said she was relieved by the court ruling.
"This has been very tough," she said.
The decision sets the stage for a massive political fight about the amendment, which would require referendums on changes to local comprehensive growth-management plans. Cities and counties are required to use those plans as blueprints for development.
Business groups argue the proposal would stifle growth and damage the state's economy. But Blackner accused opponents of "scare mongering" and said the proposal is about allowing the public to vote on land-use decisions.
A business-backed group, known as Save Our Constitution, began trying to get voters to revoke Florida Hometown Democracy petition signatures in 2007.
The revocation effort had limited success: Of the 711,168 signatures Florida Hometown Democracy has submitted, only 13,280 were revoked -- still giving the amendment enough signatures to get on the ballot.
But the four-year time limit on signatures and the possibility of further revocations before a Feb. 1, 2010, signature deadline created uncertainty.
John French, an attorney for the Save Our Constitution group, said he was disappointed that the Supreme Court did not think the revocation process was constitutional.
"We think that the right to revoke is simply a corollary of the right to sign (petitions)," French said. "And they obviously disagree."
jim.saunders@news-jrnl.com 
