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DENVER -- One day after voters in Lakewood decided to slow down residential growth and cap it at 1% per year, a ballot language hearing on Wednesday discussed the possibility of asking voters in 11 counties across Colorado whether they want to do the same thing.
Initiative 109 was created by Daniel Hayes, the Golden resident who proposed a similar growth cap in Golden back in the 1990’s.
“Denver traffic is starting to look like L.A. It’s not quite there yet but it’s getting there,” Hayes said.
This proposal would limit growth in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld counties for two years. After that, individual counties could choose to amend or repeal the initiative.
“It’s kind of a pause or a break to let people see what they think,” Hayes said.
This is not the first time Hayes has tried to get the idea on the ballot; he tried to get the idea on the statewide ballot last November. However, the idea faced a legal battle that made it all the way up to the Colorado Supreme Court.
Hayes and then-Initiative 66 supporters won the right to add the question to the ballot from the state’s highest court. However, by the time the legal battle was over, Hayes said he didn’t have enough time to gather the necessary signatures to add it to the November ballot, so the initiative was withdrawn.
“We’re back and we’re starting much earlier so hopefully we'll get it on the ballot,” he said.