Signatures turned in Monday are aimed at thwarting construction of a estimated 1-million-square-foot retail development slotted for the north end of Castle Rock.
The petition was dropped off at Town Hall on the final day it was eligible to potentially force the council to rescind its approval or go to a referendum of Castle Rock voters. The effort was put together by residents Keith Lattimore-Walsh and Linda Van Nostrand
The duo were among dozens of people who attended a to protest the plans for the Promenade at Castle Rock development, largely on the grounds that its construction would lead to the extermination of a large prairie dog colony that occupied the property, located just north of the Outlets at Castle Rock, between Interstate 25 and U.S. 85.
Efforts to relocate at least some of the prairie dogs at the site agents.
Town officials, in a issued Monday, said they are working to determine if petitioners collected at least 1,945 signatures. That total represents 5 percent of all registered voters in town the day the petition was launched, the statutory minimum.
If the petition is found to have at least 1,945 signatures, town staff will then begin checking if each signature is valid before the effort can proceed.
The $177-million development , a joint venture of Greenwood Village-based Alberta Development Partners and Denver’s Forum Real Estate Group, has already broken ground on a nearby parcel not subject to the petition effort, town officials say.
Joe Rubino: 303-954-2953, jrubino@denverpost.com or twitter.com/RubinoJC
