Ballot Question 2H
City-Referred Ordinance – Expressing Support for the Civic Assembly Recommendations for the Hughes Site and Adopting a Conceptual Framework for the Use and Management of the Hughes Site
Ordinance No. 141, 2025, Expressing Support for the Recommendations of the Civic Assembly and Adopting a Conceptual Framework for the Use and Management of the Hughes Stadium Site (the “Council-Adopted Ordinance”), was adopted by the City Council on September 2, 2025, and provides for the following City actions:
- requiring multi-use development and management for the approximately 165-acre Hughes Site;
- requiring the City to consult with Native American tribes and the Indigenous community throughout the process;
- requiring site plans to feature native and xeric vegetation and a naturalistic architectural palette, and include the following new amenities for the Hughes Site:
- a City natural area, up to 60 acres;
- dedicated space and facilities for environmental education and wildlife conservation, to include wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, up to 30 acres;
- a trail system throughout the site connected to nearby City natural areas and parks;
- a City park with a community bike park up to 35 acres, a community gathering area and appropriate related facilities;
- may include existing uses, such as disc golf and winter sledding; and
- requiring the City to manage these uses over time as planning, design and funding allow, in accordance with regular City planning and review processes, and consistent with the Public Open Lands zoning.
Shall the Council-Adopted Ordinance for multi-use of the Hughes Site be approved?
_____Yes/For
_____No/Against
Summary:
An initiative relating to the purchase by the City, zoning, and use of the former Hughes Stadium property was approved by 68.61% of the registered electors of Fort Collins at the regular City election on April 6, 2021. The ballot initiative required the City of Fort Collins ("the City") to rezone the former Hughes Stadium property as a Public Open Lands, acquire the property, and use it for "parks, recreation and open lands, natural areas, and wildlife rescue and education."
The City rezoned the Hughes Site as Public Open Lands and then on June 30, 2023, the City acquired the Hughes Site for a total cost of $12,700,000.
The City Council adopted as one of its 2024-2026 Council priorities moving forward with an inclusive process to develop and adopt a general use plan of the Hughes Site. In 2025, the City used a facilitated “Civic Assembly” process to engage the public on the future of the Hughes Site. After extensive preparations, 20 Fort Collins residents were selected by lottery to form the Civic Assembly, with the goal of representing a balanced cross-section of the community.
In April and May 2025, the Civic Assembly met to receive information and then discuss and develop recommendations for the site's development and management. During a series of public meetings, they heard from various presenters and reviewed information from past outreach efforts, all of which focused on potential uses for the Hughes Site that align with its voter-mandated zoning as Public Open Lands.
Members of the Civic Assembly and City staff presented the Assembly’s recommendations for the development and management of the Hughes Site to City Council on May 27, 2025. On September 2, 2025, City Council adopted Ordinance No. 141, 2025. Ordinance No. 141, 2025, sets out Council’s intent to establish use and management plans for the Hughes Stadium Site based on the recommendations of the City’s Civic Assembly, as outlined in the ballot measure above.
What a “Yes” vote means:
A “Yes” vote indicates the voter approves of the use and managements plans for the Hughes Stadium Site described in the measure.
What a “No” vote means:
A “No” vote indicates the voter does not approve of the use and management plans for the Hughes Stadium described in the measure.