The Naha District Court on Tuesday dismissed a suit by residents of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, claiming compensation from the city for ignoring a plebiscite on a plan to build a U.S. military heliport in Nago.
Presiding Judge Toshio Hara turned down the demand, saying the result of a plebiscite is not legally binding. If such outcomes were made binding, it would be inconsistent with the principle of indirect democracy, he said.
The plaintiffs -- 501 Nago residents who had demanded 5.01 million yen in redress for mental distress from Nago city and former Mayor Tetsuya Higa -- said they will consider appealing to a higher court.
In the plebiscite on Dec. 21, 1997, 53 percent of local citizens voted against the heliport plan.
Higa declared three days later that the city would accept the plan, apparently in exchange for a central government economic stimulus plan for the local community.
The sea-based heliport was proposed to relocate the heliport functions of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture.
The proposal was stalled by opposition from then Okinawa Gov. Masahide Ota. His successor, Keiichi Inamine, has instead proposed building a joint military-civilian airport in the city.
To reduce the U.S. military concentration in the prefecture, Japan and the United States have agreed to close the Futenma base on condition its functions be relocated.