NC House of Representatives approved a bill Tuesday that will prohibit residents from protest petitioning, stating it slows down growth and hurts economic development. Local neighborhoods use protest petitions when a landowner asks a city council to change the uses legally allowed on a piece of property. Residents who don’t like the proposed new use can file a petition that requires a three-quarter majority vote by the council to approve that change. A proposed Publix grocery store in north Raleigh was included in the debate Tuesday. An amendment was proposed to increase the amount of protestors from five percent of surrounding property owners to two-thirds, which would favor developers, but it was shot down. If the measure passes a second House vote on Wednesday, it will go to the state Senate.

SOURCE: WRAL