Proposed restrictions on development requiring zoning changes, planned unit developments, and attainable and workforce housing could be in the offing for Estes Park if Preserve Estes Park is successful in passing two citizens ballot initiatives in the coming months.
The local grassroots organization has begun collecting signatures on the proposals since the language on the ballot initiatives was approved Nov. 18 by Jackie Williamson, Estes Park’s town clerk.
The first initiative is reminiscent of a ballot referendum narrowly defeated by Estes Park voters in April 2024. That ordinance would have required neighborhood approval from at least 60% of property owners within 500 feet of the property proposed for rezoning.
The new version being proposed is more restrictive. If passed, two-thirds of property owners within 500 feet, or less from the outermost boundaries of property proposed for rezoning or planned unit developments would first need to provide written approval of the plan.
A group’s second ballot initiative, which also received approval Nov. 18, would eliminate density bonuses for attainable and workforce housing in RM multi-family residential zoning districts and repeal building height limits in those residential zoning districts.
Workforce housing targets households earning between 60% and 150% of the area median income, or $49,920 to $124.800 for a single-person household or $71,280 to $178,200 for a four-person household according to a 2024 AMI schedule from the Estes Park Housing Authority. Qualifications for low rent housing are set for households with incomes below 60% of AMI.
Section 11.4.C.1.a of the Estes Park Development Code defines attainable housing as, “Housing units that are attainable to households earning one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the Larimer County Area Median Income or below, adjusted for household size.” Both definitions for housing are used by the Estes Park Housing Authority in planning and providing housing for Estes Park.
Preserve Estes Park has 180 days, or until May 17, 2024, to collect 246 signatures from Estes Park residents who are registered voters, or 5% of the current registered voters (4,921) within the Town of Estes Park as confirmed by Larimer County Elections on each petition. The town clerk’s office then has 30 days to verify the signatures once the completed petitions are filed.
At that point, the town board has 20 days to either adopt the proposed ordinances without alterations, or refer the issues to the voters within 60 to 150 days after the clerk’s office determines the petitions meet all qualifications. Special elections cannot be held within 90 days of a regular municipal election or 32 days before or after a primary or general election.
When Preserve Estes Park’s 2024 spring initiative failed to pass, organizers vowed to renew their efforts to bring the measure before the voters again. Beginning in September the group submitted four versions of their ballot proposals to the town clerk who reviewed the ballot language submissions before asking Town Attorney Dan Kramer to review and approve the work before the Nov. 18 approval. The first three renditions were rejected.
Elections using voting equipment and as a mail ballot cost between $30,000 and $35,000.
I’m curious what qualifies as an acceptable ‘No.’ these days. This thing failed in April because it was unpopular then, and I don’t see how making affordable housing more unattainable is going to be made more popular in November of 2025. Unless there has been some sorcery performed in the interim that has magically brought housing prices down to 2000 levels, you still have a serious housing problem. What I find especially frustrating is that so many of these people supporting this measure still whine about a $5 quarter pounder while demanding that the person who made it not be allowed to live within 500 feet of their house in a community the physical size of Estes Park. We have working people sleeping in their cars in the Thompson Canyon because of this issue. That is unacceptable in any community. Acceptance of that is not going to be found in your Bible either, so stop trying to convince me that you’re a Christian while you glare down your nose at an affordable housing project.