History was made last night when the majority of Aspenites changed the city’s home rule charter, stripping power away from elected officials. Referendum 1, also known as “Keep Aspen, Aspen” passed by a slim margin of 53% to 47%. The ballot count came in at 1297 to 1141 votes Tuesday night.
It was a citizen referendum introduced by longtime resident Bert Myrin, who also is vying for a council seat, possibly in a runoff election next month.
Now, when a development project is approved by the city council that allows for exemptions to the land use code regarding height, mass, affordable housing or parking, it automatically goes to a public vote.
“The results of this election actually caught me a bit by surprise,” says president of Stay Aspen Snowmass Bill Tomcich, who campaigned against the referendum. “Because this is definitely a groundbreaking evolution here in terms of how Colorado communities work with their electorate. This is definitely a vote of no confidence in the elected officials and in the process that has steered the direction of this community for quite some time.”
The business community, the city government and developers fought hard against the amendment, spending thousands of dollars in their campaign, including the chamber of commerce and the Aspen Skiing Co.
Supporters of the referendum have been mobilizing on a grassroots level since last fall. “I think it means that we are going to see fewer variances,” says Cavanaugh O’Leary. He was a supporter of the referendum and believes that in the end, few projects will make it to the ballot box. “And if [variances] are asked for, first it’s got to get past city council. I think we will see very few get through city council, if any.”
Tomcich, like many opponents of the measure, believes there will be unintended consequences as a result, saying, “It could discourage development in the city for quite some time. It could encourage more city votes on projects that could take an awful lot of time and energy that could otherwise be spent on other challenges.”
Citizens who are concerned with the built environment in Aspen will now have more time and energy to spend on other things, which is an intended consequence of the referendum.
“There has been a small group of citizens who have fought every development that has come along and that’s been asking for variances,” says O’Leary. “We’ve had to watchdog them very closely and try to prevent those big buildings and you get tired of doing that. Now we don’t have to do that.”
The charter amendment cannot be reversed without another public vote.
