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For citizen activist Dan Phegley, it’s pretty simple: If the taxpayers are going to pay for something, they should not only know what they’re paying for and how much it’s going to cost, but should also be able to have a say in it.

That’s why , a citizens group, has filed an initiative with the city of Damascus that, if approved, would require voter approval for any city planning document required by the state or Metro. The group believes the city is passing $3 billion in debt to citizens through creation of the state-mandated Damascus Comprehensive Plan without getting their input.

鈥淭his initiative is just an extension of what’s been going on out here,鈥� Phegley said. 鈥淎fter everything that has gone on already, we don’t trust the (City Council) to make this decision, so we want the voters to get the final say.鈥�

Damascus City Council has been assembling a comprehensive plan 鈥� an all-inclusive visioning document 鈥� since 2009. The document identified approximately $3 billion worth of projects to help manage growth sustainably into the future. The council earlier this year was ready to ship the plan to the state Department of Land Conservation and Development for final approval, but then Ask Damascus added a referendum to the May ballot that asked voters whether they agreed with the plan.

The comprehensive plan was shot down by 65 percent of the voters.

鈥淚f you take a town of 10,000 and put them in debt $3 billion, that’s economic suicide,鈥� Phegley said. 鈥淎nd on top of that, the council didn’t tell us how much they wanted to put us in debt throughout the entire process.鈥�

Diana Helm, president of the council, said it has since revisited the document, but she isn’t sure much will change.

鈥淚’m not sure we will make any changes,鈥� Helm said. 鈥淭he changes they want fly in the face of our core values. But we are listening and re-examining the document.鈥�

The comprehensive plan calls for dense, urban zoning surrounded by natural, open spaces. This includes 200-foot setbacks along any streams to protect the city’s water source.

The problem, according to Damascus Mayor Steve Spinnett, is that residents like the area’s rurality. When Damascus was incorporated in 2004, citizens agreed simply to avoid annexation into nearby cities, which would have made the area subject to those cities’ planning requirements.

鈥淧lanners have a tendency to do things the same way, like cluster development with wide-open green space,鈥� Spinnett said. 鈥淏ut that’s not what the people want here. I don’t work for the city; I work for the people and the council needs to remember that they do too.

鈥淚’m in complete support of what Ask Damascus is doing because the ballot box is the ultimate public involvement.鈥�

The initiative was submitted to the city and is before the city attorney, who will draft the ballot measure language and then open a public notice period. Ask Damascus would then be able to start gathering the 400 verified signatures required for the initiative to go before voters.

If the initiative were approved, it would amend the Damascus City Charter and add a section titled Additional Powers Retained by Citizens.

The new section would read, 鈥淎fter March 1, 2011, the council shall not submit any ordinance or plan which affects property rights to Metro, the (Land Conservation and Development Commission), the DLCD or their successors until it is ratified by a majority vote of the city’s qualified electors voting in an election where at least 50 percent of the registered voters cast a ballot, or the election is a general election in an even-numbered year.鈥�

The initiative also would require that the council include on the ballot an estimation of how much the plan would cost taxpayers after implementation, as well as a description of what it would do.

Both Phegley and Spinnett believe that the initiative will spur dialogue and potentially lead to compromises so a plan can be approved and sent to the state. But Helm warns that a change to city code could spin the entire process out of control.

鈥淚 just don’t think they understand that we are required to turn something in to the state, and just because they voted no on it, or vote no on it again, doesn’t mean that requirement, or the issue, will go away,鈥� she said.