Colorado
Voters asked to alter Colorado city’s zoning for more affordable housing in special election
Voters in one city near Denver can expect to start seeing ballots in the mail beginning Monday.
On April 7, voters will decide whether to keep or repeal recent rezoning changes approved by the Lakewood City Council.
A debate over those zoning changes has played out over several months and will now head to voters.
Cathy Kentner, an organizer with Lakewood for All, said she initially doubted the petition effort would succeed.
“I am very honest in saying, when I was asked my opinion, I said I didn’t think it was possible,” Kenter said.
Kentner said organizers wanted the issue returned to the community for broader input.
“By taking this back to the drawing board, we can include everybody and have a truly transparent process that respects and hears everyone’s voice,” she added.
A “yes” vote would overturn the zoning changes the council approved in the fall. A “no” vote keeps those changes in place.
Lakewood Mayor Wendi Strom said the rezoning was intended to help the city meet the goals of its comprehensive plan and address a lack of housing options.
“We know that we have a lot of people who can’t afford $2,000 a month in rent for an apartment. We also know they can’t afford an $800,000 or $900,000 single‑family home. What we’ve heard over and over again from community members is, ‘can we get something in the middle, whether it be condos or townhomes?’” Strom said.
The rezoning — now paused during the special election — would limit the overall size of a home but remove restrictions on how many units can be built within that square footage. City councilmembers say the change would allow more duplexes, townhomes, and other “missing‑middle” housing options.
Kentner and other opponents disagree.
“They are going into corporate ownership or investment properties and being turned into duplexes or triplexes that are made to sound affordable. But a teacher like me can only afford to buy one home — we can’t afford to buy two or three at a time. More likely than not, this pushes working‑class people into what is often referred to as ‘permanent rentership,’” Kentner said.
Strom said the petition and resulting special election were not expected, but acknowledged that it is part of government: “It is a natural part of the governmental process to open it up and give the citizenry the ability to say, ‘wait, not so fast.’”
The rezoning issue includes several other changes detailed in four different ordinances by the Lakewood council and can be viewed in detail on the city’s website.
A Colorado man died on Tuesday when a boulder fell on him and crushed him. That’s according to the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office, who identified the man as 59-year-old Paul Frasch.
Frasch is a resident of Silverthorne. The sheriff’s office says he was walking in an area along the Arkansas River in Buena Vista in the middle of the day with his coworker when rocks fell and hit him.
According to investigators, the boulder that landed on Frasch weighed at least 1,000 pounds.
The coworker received injuries to his arms after trying to help Frasch.
When first responders got to the scene, the boulder was still on top of Frasch. He was declared dead at the scene.
The Longmont City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to decline a request from the town of Superior to support its appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court in a long-running lawsuit over aircraft noise from Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport.
The decision comes about a week after the council met in a closed-door executive session to receive legal advice regarding Superior’s request that Longmont join an amicus brief supporting the appeal.
Councilmember Jake Marsing moved to adopt the city’s proposed response to Superior, and the motion passed 7-0 after a brief discussion.
Superior is seeking Colorado Supreme Court review of a Colorado Court of Appeals decision that found federal law prevents courts from ordering Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport to restrict aircraft operations because regulation of air traffic falls under the authority of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Superior and Boulder County sued the Jefferson County-owned airport in 2024, arguing that training flights create excessive noise and lead emissions for nearby communities. While a district court dismissed the lawsuit in 2025, the Court of Appeals this year revived part of the lead contamination claim while upholding the dismissal of the noise-related claims.
In the statement adopted Tuesday, Longmont acknowledged it has also heard complaints from residents about airplane noise and said the city takes those concerns seriously. However, the statement said, Longmont’s position differs from neighboring communities because it owns and operates Vance Brand Airport.
“The city believes that local control over airport operations is important and these rights should not be taken by the courts,” the adopted statement reads. The city also said it is continuing efforts to address noise concerns through voluntary measures, including updates to its voluntary noise abatement procedures and a voluntary saturated pattern policy that limits the number of aircraft in the traffic pattern.
Mayor Susie Hidalgo-Fahring also noted the city is continuing discussions about its long-term vision for airport operations.
The statement leaves the door open for future collaboration with regional partners and the FAA but concludes that Longmont will not file an amicus brief with the Colorado Supreme Court at this time.
Before the vote, Councilmember Matthew Popkin asked City Attorney Eugene Mei to clarify for residents who, exactly, had provided legal advice to the council during the executive session. Mei said Longmont’s outside aviation counsel did not advise the city because that firm is representing Jefferson County in the appeal and therefore has a conflict of interest. Instead, the council received advice solely from the city’s legal staff.
Longmont’s decision contrasts with those of neighboring Lafayette and Louisville, whose city councils have approved joining an amicus brief supporting Superior’s petition. Broomfield has also indicated support for the effort.
Colorado
Erie Town Council approves sale of Colorado mineral rights for major oil and gas development
Erie Town Council approved the sale of its mineral rights to SM Energy Company during its regular meeting late Tuesday night. This will allow SM Energy to conduct its major oil and gas project within the Draco Pad well site that will stretch from Weld County into Boulder County.
With the plan falling into place for SM Energy, this will mark the future development of what is to become one of the largest oil and gas developments in the state.
According to the town’s press release, “The agreement provides for the plugging and abandoning of 17 wells, allows Town staff to conduct site inspections on the Draco Well Pad on a regular basis, transfers three parcels of land (for a total of 158 acres) to the Town of Erie, assigns a 3% share of revenue from the production of these minerals to the Town, and a cash payment of $4.5M will be made to the Town. SM Energy will gain ownership of mineral rights equal to roughly 182 acres, or 4.9% of the overall Draco drilling area.”
The agreement passed in a close 4-3 decision after it had recently failed in a 3-3 council vote June 16.
The state originally approved the Draco Pad well site development in 2025.
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