The Town of Estes Park Trustees had only two choices at the July 8 board meeting: accept the wording of two citizen initiated petitions on two issues regarding zoning and planned unit developments into the Estes Park Development Code or hold a special election and let the people decide, said Jackie Williamson, town clerk.
Organized by Preserve Estes Park, an Estes Park issue advocacy group led by Kristine and James Poppitz that seeks to regulate development in the valley, the two measures received enough verified signatures to force a public vote, said Williamson.
While discussing the options for a special election, Williamson also explained that the only day to hold the election and meet all the requirements of the law would be Nov. 4, 2025.
“We contacted Larimer County simply to find out what it would take to coordinate and what the cost might be to run a special election,” she said. “It ranges from about $5,500 all the way up to $22,000.”
The wording of the petitions, especially the one that required neighbors’ approvals for rezoning for proposed developments, caused concern among some board members and the public.
During public comment, Estes Park resident Becky Robbins raised a concern, “I sent you a note which you may or may not have been able to read, but I wanted to put this out in the public. So, I’ve been wondering if this ordinance is passed, or this amendment is passed to the development code, if it would violate the Fair Housing Act.”
Robbins said that while she is not a lawyer, she is a realtor and after researching the issue, “I have a real interest in zoning and property rights here, and I found that courts have found violations of similar situations where local governments have blocked affordable, multifamily housing due to pressure from neighbors. Further, I found that intent to discriminate does not have to be proven. It depends on the outcome of the ordinance that harms a protected class, which this, I think, could do.”
Trustee Bill Brown, an attorney, shared many of the same concerns about legality and wanted more time to research the language in the proposed ordinances. His motion to continue this issue until the first board meeting in August was voted down.
Town Attorney Dan Kramer said that the legality of any ballot issue is determined only after a majority of the public has approved it. Given the tight time constraints on this issue, the trustees ultimately voted to set the election, with Brown abstaining.
The two measures that will appear on the November ballot in the special mail-in election are:
“Shall an ordinance be adopted which states that section 11.4 of the Estes Park Development Code (which provides density bonuses in the RM Multi-Family Residential zoning district for attainable and workforce housing for persons living and/or working in the Estes Valley), and associated building height limits in section 4.3 – Residential Zoning Districts, are hereby repealed?” with a yes or no response.
And;
“All applications, motions, or requests made for all re-zonings and/or all Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) in Estes Park, Colorado will not be approved without written approval by the record owner(s) of the subject property/properties and two-thirds (2/3) of the record owner(s) of all properties five hundred feet (500’) or less from the outermost boundaries of the subject property/properties “ with approval or disapproval requested.
In other Town Board news, the Estes Arts District gave a base funding report, and Ordinance 13-25 was adopted to repeal Ordinance 07-22 concerning the inclusion of certain properties located within the Town of Estes Park into the Municipal Sub-District of Northern Colorado Water Conservancy in order to comply with the District’s new regulations.
Three new resolutions were also approved. The first was to complete the Prospect Mountain water project by funding additional work resulting from unforeseen construction and higher-than-anticipated costs, development, and water rights fees. Since the Water Department is an enterprise fund, it will be responsible for providing those additional funds.
Resolution 74-25 revised the scope of work for the Estes Park Broadband Planning and Implementation, based on staff recommendations due to inflationary fiscal constraints.
The last resolution was to contingently award the low bid submitted by Timber Wolf Excavating of Broomfield for the Spruce Knob and Carriage Hills Water Systems construction. The trustees approved this bid due to the uncertainty of retaining $1 million in Department of Local Affairs grant money. Because of the Town’s local preference policy, the award may have gone to High Plains/E-Z Excavating of Estes Park, the second-lowest bidder.
The next Town of Estes Park Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 22, at 7 p.m., in Town Hall at 170 MacGregor Avenue.