Anti-arena group drops referendum on Phoenix Suns arena funding

Talking Stick Resort Arena / Twitter

Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents the Phoenix Suns

By Jessica Boehm | Arizona Republic

An attempt to send the controversial $230 million Phoenix Suns arena renovation deal to the voters is dead, The Arizona Republic confirmed Tuesday.

The Phoenix City Council approved the deal, which will keep the Suns in downtown Phoenix through at least 2037, in late January.

But a group calling itself Common Sense Phoenix immediately launched a referendum campaign — hoping to collect enough signatures to send the deal to the ballot later this year and give voters the final say.

Attorneys for Phoenix sent Common Sense Phoenix a letter late last week warning that the city clerk would not accept its petitions because only “legislative acts” are subject to referendum, and the city does not believe the arena deal was a “legislative act.”

READ ON: