Referendums#
In an effort to assist residents with the referendum process, the City Clerk's Office has developed Referendum Guidelines to explain the process in a simplified chronological manner. The Fort Collins City Charter grants the registered electors (voters) of Fort Collins the power to refer a Council-adopted Ordinance to the voters for approval or rejection.
The Power of the Referendum#
The Fort Collins City Charter grants the registered electors of Fort Collins the power to refer a Council-adopted Ordinance to the voters for approval or rejection. The referendum process begins by filing with the City Clerk a notice of protest against the going into effect of the Ordinance within 10 days after its final passage. No later than 10 days after the filing of that notice of protest, the proponents of the referendum must submit to the City Clerk the final form of their petition. The City Clerk reviews the form of the petition and, if satisfied that it conforms to the requirements of the Charter, approves the petition for circulation. Once approved, the proponents have 20 calendar days to circulate the petition and file it with the City Clerk.
If the proponents collect the requisite number of valid signatures, the petition is deemed sufficient. Following the expiration of a protest period and any protest process, a sufficient petition is certified to the City Council. The Council must then either (1) repeal the Ordinance, or (2) refer the Ordinance to a vote of the registered electors at the next regular or special City election scheduled for any other purpose. Alternatively, the Council may also call a special election for this purpose.
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Protest Hearing Held December 13
The protest hearing scheduled to hear a protest of the finding of sufficiency of the referendum petition against Ordinance No. 136, 2023, was held on Wednesday, December 13, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. in City Council Chambers. After hearing the protester's presentation of their case, including the calling of a witness, and making a closing statement, the hearing officer closed the hearing and took the case under advisement.
View the video recording of the Protest Hearing
The protest of the finding of sufficiency was filed on Wednesday, December 6, 2023. The City Charter requires a protest hearing be scheduled to begin within 7 calendar days of the date the protest is filed. City Manager Kelly DiMartino appointed Geoff Wilson, Partner at Wilson Williams LLP, as the hearing officer to conduct the hearing.
Read a copy of the Protest Filed
This was a public hearing, and the public was welcome to attend. However no general public comment or testimony was taken.
Read a copy of the email with hearing process and instructions from the Hearing Officer
Order of the Hearing
- Introduction of Hearing Officer and opening remarks of the Hearing Officer.
- Protester is administered oath.
- Protester presents her case and answers questions from the Hearing Officer. Protester’s witnesses, if any, are sworn in and may be examined by the Protester and the Hearing Officer.
- The Protester’s burden of proof in this proceeding is a “preponderance of the evidence,” meaning that Protester must show that it is more likely than not that the signature protested is invalid.
- Protester concludes her case; may make closing statement.
- Hearing is closed; Hearing Officer takes case under advisement.
- Hearing Officer will issue decision within ten days following the hearing.
Petition Examination Results
Tuesday, December 5, 2023
- All 277 Petition Sections have been fully reviewed in the examination process
- 6,717 Signature Lines are contained in these sections
- 5,776 entries have been determined to be valid signatures to date
These figures are have been fully cross checked and are now final as part of the examination of the petition that is now complete.
All petition sections are now available for public review during business hours. To do this, please contact the City Clerk's Office by phone at 970-221-6515 or email at cityclerk@fcgov.com to set up a time to come to City Hall.
The City Clerk has determined the petition as presented is sufficient. This determination can be protested by the filing of a written protest under oath in the Office of the City Clerk by the end of protest period, at 5 p.m. on Friday, December 8. A written protest must indicate with specificity the grounds for the protest, including any particular names being protested or the specific aspect of the form of the petition subject to protest.
Background#
At the October 17, 2023 City Council Meeting, the City Council approved the adoption of a new Land Use Code. This included the adoption of three different related ordinances. Ordinance No. 136, 2023 actually repealed and reenacted the Land Use Code. Under the provisions of that ordinance, the revised Land Use Code is scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2024.
The new Land Use Code replaces the 1997 Land Use Code which is being repealed and separately codified as the Pre-2024 Transitional Land Use Regulations. These transitional regulations are limited in their application to the review of pending land use applications submitted and determined to be complete and ready for review prior to January 1, 2024.
Process Timeline#
ORDINANCE ADOPTED#
On October 17, 2023, Council adopted on second reading:
NOTICE OF PROTEST FILED#
On October 27, 2023, registered elector Ross Cunniff filed a Notice of Protest against the going into effect of Ordinance No. 136, 2023.
Read Notice for Ord. No. 136, 2023
Read 10-27 Memorandum to City Council on the Ordinance Protest and Referendum Process
FORM OF PETITION SUBMITTED AND APPROVED#
Once information is provided about the 3-5 people designated as petition representatives and they provide a general statement of purpose, the City Clerk's Office prepares the format of the petition. Once that is reviewed by the petition representatives, the Clerk's Office prepares the number of petition sections and provides them to the representatives. Within 10 days of when the notice of protest against the ordinance is filed, the petition representatives must submit those petition sections back to the City Clerk with numbering complete on each section for a final review and approval of the Clerk. The form of petition and all sections were submitted on the deadline to do so, November 6, 2023.
The City Clerk completed that final review and approved the referendum petition for circulation on November 8, 2023, starting the 20 calendar day circulation period for petition representatives to gather signatures.
CIRCULATION PERIOD AND FILING THE PETITION WITH THE CITY CLERK#
The deadline for petition representatives to submit a complete petition was 5 p.m. on November 28, 2023.
EXAMINATION AND PROTEST PERIODS#
The complete petition was submitted on November 28. The City Clerk's Office determined the petition was valid and began examination of the petition. This was completed by the deadline Tuesday, December 5, 2023. A total of 4,228 valid signatures from registered Fort Collins voters were needed on the petition for it to be deemed sufficient. 5,776 valid signatures were found, leading to a determination of sufficiency for the petition.
The filing of the complete petition also started a protest period during which any registered voter in Fort Collins may file a protest of the Clerk's determination of sufficiency. This protest period ended at 5 p.m. on Friday, December 8, 2023.
PROTEST FILED#
A protest was filed on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, by Fort Collins registered voter Lisa Cunningham.
In accordance with the provisions of the City Charter, City Manager Kelly DiMartino appointed a hearing officer, Geoff Wilson, an attorney specializing in election law and a partner with Wilson Williams LLP. The Charter also requires the City Clerk to set a time for a hearing on the protest no more than seven days after the protest is filed. The Protest Hearing was set for Wednesday, December 13, at 9:30 a.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall.
The hearing officer provided details on the hearing process, including instructions for the protester on providing exhibits or witnesses as part of presenting the protest.
Read a copy of the email with hearing process and instructions from the Hearing Officer
Pre-hearing Requests for the Protester
The following information has been requested by the Hearing Officer of the Protester:
- Exhibits: Should the protester wish to submit any documentary (written/graphic/pictorial) materials for consideration at the hearing in connection with Section 1 of the Protest, these materials should be lettered individually (a, b, c, etc.) and provided to the City Clerk by the close of business Monday, December 11.
- Witnesses: Should the Protester wish to provide testimony of any witnesses, a list of these witnesses and a brief statement of their intended testimony should be provided to the City Clerk by the close of busines Monday, December 11.
PROTEST HEARING#
The protest hearing was a public hearing held in Council Chambers the public was welcome to attend. However, no public comment or testimony was taken.
View the Video Recording of the Protest Hearing
Order of the Hearing
- Introduction of the Hearing Officer and opening remarks of the Hearing Officer.
The hearing began promptly at 9:30 a.m. - Protester is administered oath.
The hearing officer administered an oath to the protester. - Protester presents her case and answers questions from the Hearing Officer. Protester's witnesses, if any, are sworn in and may be examined by the Protester and the Hearing Officer.
The Protester's burden of proof in this proceeding is a "preponderance of evidence," meaning that the Protester must show that it is more likely than not that the signature protested is invalid.
The protester presented her case, and called one witness who was also sworn in by the hearing officer prior to providing testimony. - Protester concludes her case; may make closing statement.
The protester provided a closing statement. - Hearing is closed; Hearing Officer takes case under advisement.
The hearing officer closed the hearing at 9:50 a.m. and took the case under advisement. - Hearing Officer will issue decision within 10 days following the hearing.
Related Issue Committees#
- PFC Action
Additional Information#
For more information about the Land Use Code, including a comparison between the Land Development Code adopted in 2022 and the revised Land Use Code adopted in 2023 and Frequently Asked Questions, visit https://www.fcgov.com/housing/lucupdates.
To read the 1997 Land Use Code, visit Fort Collins Land Use Code.
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Results of Referendum Process#
The protest of Ordinance No. 114, 2022 was successful. As a result, the City Council reconsidered the ordinance at its regular meeting on January 17, 2023. Instead of sending the ordinance to the voters for a referendum, the Council repealed the protested ordinance through the adoption of Ordinance No. 007, 2023.
Process Timeline#
Ordinances Adopted#
On November 1, 2022, Council approved on second reading:
- Ordinance No. 114, 2022 Repealing and Reenacting Section 29-1 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins to Adopt the Land Development Code and Separately Codifying the 1997 Land Use Code as “2022 Transitional Land Use Regulations”
- Ordinance No. 115, 2022 Amending the Zoning Map of the City of Fort Collins to Rename All Neighborhood Conservation Low Density, Neighborhood Conservation Medium Density, and Neighborhood Conservation Buffer Zone Districts to the Old Town Zone District in Conjunction with the Adoption of the Land Development Code
Notice of Protest Filed#
On November 11, 2022, registered elector Ross Cunniff filed two Notices of Protest against the going into effect of Ordinance No. 114, 2022 and Ordinance No. 115, 2022.
Form of Petition Submitted and Approved#
The petition representatives chose to move forward with only one protest, for Ordinance No. 114, 2022. The form of the petition was subsequently filed with the City Clerk on the deadline to do so, Monday, November 21, 2022. The petition was approved for circulation four working days later on Tuesday, November 29. 2022.
Circulation Period and Filling the Petition with the City Clerk#
The circulation period for the petition was 20 calendar days, making the deadline to file the completed petition with the City Clerk Monday, December 19, 2022.
A total of 4,228 valid signatures from registered Fort Collins signatures were needed on the petition for it to be sufficient for action by the City Council.
The City Clerk had five working days to review the petition, which ended at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 27, 2022. If the petition is sufficient, it will be certified
The deadline for any registered Fort Collins voter to file a protest following the Clerk's determination of sufficiency or insufficiency was Thursday, December 29, 2022. The sufficient petition was certified and presented to the City Council via memorandum after the protest period expired on Friday, December 30, 2022. At that time, the operation of Ordinance No. 114, 2022 was automatically suspended pending repeal of the Ordinance by Council or final determination by the voters via referendum at an election.
Number of signature lines examined: 7,443
Number of valid signatures: 6,447
Read Certification of Sufficiency Memo
The Council was required to reconsider the protested ordinance at its next regular meeting. Because the January 3, 2023 Council Meeting was canceled, that was the January 17, 2023 Council Meeting.
Additional Information#
For more information about the Land Development Code, including Frequently Asked Questions, visit https://www.fcgov.com/housing/lucupdates.
To read the 1997 Land Use Code, visit Fort Collins Land Use Code.
For more information about the referendum process, view the Referendum Guidelines.