Current Lakewood law requires large developments to give land to the city for park spaces, but developers can choose to pay a fee so that the city can build a park elsewhere instead. The Save Open Space Lakewood group is pushing to remove the fee option, arguing that it dilutes the point of the ordinance.
“Is it really a requirement if you can buy out of it? The people of Lakewood don't want big-money, corporate developers to be able to buy out of our development requirements, and that's what they've been allowed to do," says Cathy Kentner, a Save Open Space member and former Lakewood mayoral candidate. "This would stop that practice.”
The petition was spurred by a proposed development next to the 132-acre Belmar Park that citizens believe will compromise the tranquility and natural space offered by the park.
“Belmar Park was absolutely the straw that broke the camel's back,” Kentner says, noting that those who live near Colfax in Lakewood have sounded the alarm about the fee for years. “The majority of people that were gathering signatures got involved because of Belmar Park. … Without those people and their passion, I don't think that this would have been possible.”
The Belmar Park development would place 400 luxury apartments in multi-story buildings right next to the park, which has neighbors worried about wildlife disturbances, parking and the uprooting of dozens of trees. Neighbors say this measure could still help protect the park by requiring some of the land for the development to be donated to the City of Lakewood. Right now, developer Kairoi Residential has indicated it plans to pay the fee instead.
The rule will not apply retroactively, so the development may be able to go ahead as planned if it finishes making its way through the permitting process before the proposal becomes law. Still, developments in the future would be impacted if the measure succeeds, which proponents view as positive.
“It feels like optimism and hope,” Kentner says.
Kentner is no stranger to ballot measures, having successfully pushed a strategic growth initiative in Lakewood that limited new housing developments. That initiative was overturned last year after the state legislature passed a law prohibiting anti-growth policies. She also attempted a referendum on a rezoning near her home in 2010, which failed to garner enough legal signatures.
Citizen Initiatives in Lakewood
The Lakewood city charter specifies that the number of signatures for a valid initiative petition must equal at least 5 percent of the registered voters at the date of the last municipal election. Right now, that number is 5,862.The Lakewood city clerk is processing those signatures after the group turned in the petition on September 20. Parties in opposition have the chance to protest any of the signatures within thirty days of September 20. Once signature verification is complete, the clerk will report to Lakewood City Council about the petition's eligibility.
If the petition is considered sufficient, city council can either vote to immediately adopt the rule change or refer it to the ballot in a special election. The council must act within thirty days of the clerk presenting a determination on the validity of the petition.
Should the council send the rule change to a special election, that election must be held within thirty to ninety days. Members of the public can file lawsuits protesting the initiative before it reaches the ballot. Even after a measure passes, councilmembers can amend or repeal the rule after six months have passed.
Kentner expects this measure will be referred to voters with an election date in January or February of next year.
Stacie Oulton, a spokesperson for Lakewood, says the city is revising its parkland dedication law already, and that process will include community engagement when revisions are ready.
Kenter calls the work to get enough signatures “long and grueling,” in part because the measure didn’t have any donors.
“It takes a lot of time, and we all have full-time jobs that we have to support our families,” Kentner, a public school teacher, says. “When my local government is unresponsive, my time is even more limited and my resources are even more limited. Most of the circulators are in that same position. We're just trying to have a little say in how our city develops. We're just regular people trying to protect our natural environment that we all value.”
