COLORADANS FOR RESPONSIBLE GROWTH
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACTS:
March 21, 2000 Elise Jones, CEC Exec. Director, 303-534-7066, x204
John Fielder, Nature Photographer, 303-935-0900
Coalition Announces Ballot Initiative to Fight Colorado’s Sprawl
Measure Would Give Citizens Control Over Growth in Their Communities
Denver, CO – Today, Coloradans for Responsible Growth, a broad coalition of environmental, citizen and planning organizations, filed a proposed ballot initiative to help tackle Colorado’s uncontrolled growth and sprawl problem.
"Having just traveled from one end of Colorado to the other in order to re-photograph the scenes made by 19th century photographer W.H. Jackson, it’s clear that we are losing the war against sprawl," said nature photographer John Fielder, one of the initiative’s two official proponents. "We must work together to design a way to better manage growth before the next one million people move to Colorado, and we must do it now!"
The initial groups composing this Coalition -- which include the American Planning Association – Colorado, Colorado Environmental Coalition, Sierra Club Rocky Mountain Chapter, CoPIRG Citizen Lobby, Western Colorado Congress, Land and Water Fund of the Rockies, Clean Water Action, and League of Conservation Voters Education Fund – have been working with lawmakers since January to pass legislation on this issue. But in the wake of the Legislature’s action last week to kill its last remaining major growth bill, the Coalition is pursuing an initiative as an alternative.
"From the Front Range to the West Slope, uncontrolled sprawl is gobbling up our open space, clogging our roads with traffic, and destroying the quality of life in Colorado," stated Elise Jones, Executive Director of the Colorado Environmental Coalition and initiative proponent. "Coloradans from across the state are now joining together to promote a meaningful solution to sprawl – a solution that will give citizens the deciding voice in shaping the future of the communities they live in."
The "Citizen Management of Growth" proposal takes a bottom-up, local control strategy to fighting sprawl, rather than a one-size fits all, top-down approach, by giving voters control over the new growth occurring in their communities. It will also promote regional cooperation by requiring cities and counties to work together in planning for new growth. The initiative has support from across the state and from a diversity of interests.
"This initiative will ensure that communities take a hard look at their resources, assess how and if they want to grow, and develop a vision for how that growth might happen," reported Jean Hagen, certified planner and Co-chair of the American Planning Association’s Legislative Committee. "We support this effort because its passage will mean that long range planning will occur throughout Colorado."`
"As a local official from the West Slope, I know firsthand the harm that uncontrolled growth is causing in our communities," said Jacque Whitsitt, Town Council member for Basalt. "Local governments must work together to direct future growth to urban areas where the costs to citizens and the environment are bearable. Business as usual will simply result in subsidized sprawl spreading across every remaining pristine area in the state."
"It is time for the voters of Colorado to take control of growth management and rein in the sprawl monster before it completely devours our state," reported Grand Junction resident Don Campbell, a member of the Western Colorado Congress and the former Chair of the Mesa County Planning Commission. "A citizen ballot initiative appears to be the only hope for achieving responsible growth in Colorado."
The key elements of the initiative are:
1 Voter Approval of New Growth Areas. Cities and counties must prepare maps of future growth areas, outlining the location and general densities and uses of the new growth, and then submit them to local voters for approval before building can occur in undeveloped areas. Already developed areas and those approved for development would be unaffected.
2 Public Disclosure of Growth Impacts. Cities and counties must describe to voters the projected impacts of the new development, including its costs and effect on schools, open space, traffic, air quality, and water supplies.
3 Promotion of Responsible, Affordable Growth. Growth areas are limited to areas where localities can afford to build roads and central water and sewer systems within a ten-year period. Cities must draw their new growth areas adjacent to existing developed areas.
4 Regional Cooperation. Counties and cities must consult with each other in drawing their growth area maps, and may not conflict with or overlap their neighbors’ growth areas.
5 Exemptions for Rural and Slow Growth Areas. Counties with fewer than 10,000 residents and towns of 1,000 or less are excluded, and counties with populations under 25,000 can vote to exempt themselves. In addition, there are exceptions allowing development outside of approved-growth areas, including 35-acre subdivisions, farm family residences, agricultural businesses, rural stores, facilities necessary for public health and safety, and non-urban development that already has the proper zoning and subdivision and doesn’t require central water and sewer services.
Legislative Council will now have two weeks to review the draft initiative and schedule a hearing to provide feedback to the initiative proponents.
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