Promenade referendum petition deemed valid; town must rescind ordinance or put to a citizen vote
By Elizabeth Wood West
A citizen petition halted development on Promenade at Castle Rock, a project planned for up to one million square feet of commercial development and 350 multi-family residential units. Town Council now must either rescind the ordinance or put to a citizen vote.
Town of Castle Rock’s (Town) Clerk Sally Misare has determined that citizens collected enough valid signatures for the Promenade referendum petition to authorize the Town to move forward with the referendum process.
The petition, brought about after much controversy surrounding the removal/relocation of prairie dogs on the property, seeks to reverse Town Council’s February approval of ordinance No. 2015-09, which included both the development plan and new zoning for Promenade at Castle Rock (Promenade).
According to the Town’s code, the petition needed a minimum of 1,945 valid signatures and the petition had a total of 2,323 valid signatures.
Promenade is a 166-acre mixed-use project owned by Alberta Development Partners, located between U.S. Highway 85 and Interstate 25, north of the Outlets at Castle Rock. The project is planned for up to one million square feet of commercial development and 350 multi-family residential units.
The 40-day protest period regarding the clerk’s validation of the petition signatures expired on May 26, and no protests were filed.
Town Council’s next steps are to decide whether to rescind the ordinance or to set an election date later this summer for voters to decide whether the ordinance should be approved. Town staff noted that any potential ballot question would relate specifically to Promenade’s zoning and development ordinance and not commercial development in general.
If Town voters choose to vote against the ordinance, the Promenade property will revert back to its earlier zoning, which allowed for higher commercial and residential densities. Construction has already begun on some parts of the Promenade property (southeast of Lowe’s); these areas will not be affected by the petition.
For further information about Promenade at Castle Rock and/or upcoming public hearings, visit www.crgov.com.
