The Nevada Supreme Court refused Wednesday to issue an emergency order putting the Reno railroad trench issue on November's election ballot.
The decision means a citizens group must file an appeal as quickly as possible if it wants to force the issue to the November general election ballot and leaves the city free to enter a contract to begin work on the project in the meantime.
Citizens for a Public Train Trench Vote say they don't have time for a full appeal in the case because ballots will be ordered immediately after September primaries, and they won't be able to get the question put on the ballot.
They collected signatures to force Washoe County to put the issue on the ballot, but District Judge Jim Hardesty removed the question, saying the city has the right to award the contract and begin the project lowering the railroad tracks through downtown Reno without a vote of the people.
The group asked the high court to overturn Hardesty's ruling.
"It appears that petitioners may appeal from the district court's order and the right to appeal is a plain, speedy and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law that precludes writ relief," according to the Supreme Court panel of Justices Cliff Young, Deborah Agosti and Myron Leavitt.
