The Aurora City Council brought plans to build an entertainment district anchored by a racetrack to a screeching halt Thursday, voting unanimously to remove a measure from the November ballot that asked residents to .
The measure could have designated a 1,700-acre area southeast of Denver International Airport as an entertainment district, allowing the city to subsidize the construction of a speedway. But speakers and councilmembers said Thursday that the proposal had not been properly vetted with the public before landing on the ballot.
Aurora City councilman Charlie Richardson said the “whole process was fatally flawed from the beginning.”
“If this ever goes forward in the future there should be multiple public hearings, committee meetings, consideration of potential advanced polling, resolution of funding and cost requirements and a host of many other questions,” said Richardson, a former Aurora city attorney. “There’s a much, much better way to make good public policy.”
Back-and-forth on the ballot measure has been fierce since the city council approved it in June. In July, District Court Judge John Wheeler dismissed a lawsuit filed by Aurora residents that aimed to kill the measure by claimed its language was intentionally misleading to voters.
“It was not transparent to begin with,” councilwoman Marsha Berzins said. “I hope council will not repeat itself. I hope we will learn from this.”
Building a racetrack in Aurora has been repeatedly debated. Residents voted against a plan to build . Ten years later, a developer proposed building a $200 million track complex.
Speakers at the special meeting urged council members to allow the latest attempt at bringing a racetrack to Aurora to be the last.
“It has become increasingly clear for me that a racetrack is not what the people of Aurora are advocating for,” said one woman. “Abandon this pipe dream and special interest push for a racetrack permanently.”