On Wednesday, July 2, 2020, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a per curiam opinion holding that Colorado’s Governor cannot suspend, by executive order, the state’s constitutional requirements for ballot measure signatures. The Governor had sought, among other things, to permit campaigns for ballot measures that have titles set or pending before the Colorado Supreme Court
Colorado’s Governor Issues Executive Order Relaxing Requirements for November 2020 Ballot Measures; Business Groups Sue
On Friday, May 15, 2020, Colorado Governor Jared Polis issued Executive Order D 2020 065, temporarily suspending certain statutory requirements governing the distribution, signing, and certification of ballot measures for the November 2020 election. The Order would, among other things, permit campaigns for ballot measures that have titles set or pending before the Colorado Supreme Court to collect signatures electronically by e-mail or by mail, rather than requiring a petition circulator to obtain signatures in person. It would also give campaigns additional time to collect and submit the required number of signatures. The Order directed Colorado’s Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, to issue temporary rules to accommodate these changes. A coalition of business organizations immediately challenged the Order in court, questioning whether the Governor has the power to unilaterally alter the state’s election laws.
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Front Range-Wide Residential Growth Cap One Step Closer to Colorado’s 2020 Ballot
In July, voters in Lakewood approved a one percent per annum cap on residential unit construction. Now, a proposed ballot measure aiming to require counties along the Front Range to follow suit is one step closer to appearing on Colorado’s 2020 ballot.
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Lakewood Voters Pass Strategic Growth Initiative
This post was authored by Alexandra Haggarty. Alex is a summer clerk at Otten Johnson, and a rising 3L at the University of Colorado Law School.
This post is an update on three earlier posts about a citizen initiative to limit residential growth in Lakewood, Colorado.
With a near 53 percent majority, voters in the City of Lakewood approved Ballot Question 200, capping growth of residential unit construction by one percent annually and requiring city council approval of projects with forty or more units. The city joins Boulder and neighboring Golden in responding to Colorado’s population growth by capping development.
Proponents of the initiative argue that it will preserve Lakewood’s culture and environment. Specifically, the initiative was pitched as a way to preserve open space, protect single-family development, ensure that infrastructure and services are not overburdened, and curb alleged problems of unmanaged growth, such as crime and urban decay.
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Boulder Sets Affordable Housing Linkage Fee at $30 psf
Last month I wrote about how Boulder was weighing an ordinance that would raise the city’s affordable housing linkage fee on new commercial development from $12 per square foot–a fee just 16 months old and the second highest in the country–to $25, $30, or $35 per square foot. Last week, by a 6-3 vote, city