Castle Rock officials on Thursday verified that opponents of the Promenade at Castle Rock development slated for the north side of town gathered enough petition signatures earlier this year to force the Town Council to either rescind approval or allow a general vote on the project’s development plans.
Petitioners turned in the signatures aimed at thwarting the estimated 1-million square-foot retail project , the final day they would be accepted. Since then town staff have been working to verify the signatures and ensure the petition met the 1,945-voter threshold required by state law.
the petitions featured the valid signatures of 2,323 Castle Rock voters, the town said in a news release Friday.
Until 5 p.m. May 26, individuals or groups may dispute the town clerk’s finding regarding the petition.
If the petition stands, Town Council may choose to rescind the ordinance that green-lighted the development plans and zoning for the property, which was passed at a contentious , or set an election date on which town voters will decide if the plans move forward.
A portion of the $177-million project, a joint venture of Greenwood Village-based Alberta Development Partners and Denver’s Forum Real Estate Group, has already broken ground in the area south of the Lowe’s store, roughly located north of Meadows Parkway, between U.S. 85 and Interstate 25. That protion is not subject to the ordinance and not impacted by the petition, the town said.
Protestors have fought the project much of this year, largely on the basis that its construction would destroy a large prairie dog colony on the site. The rodents in the colony were either exterminated or .
Joe Rubino: 303-954-2953, jrubino@denverpost.com or twitter.com/RubinoJC
