Please review the ballot measure information below and provide any comments for or against the measure. Comments received will be summarized for inclusion in a Voter Information Guide and/or TABOR notice.
Comments will be accepted until 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 19. The Voter Information Guide will be published in mid-October.
Ballot Question 303
Citizen-Initiated Proposed Ordinance No. 1
(Making the Hughes Site a 100% Natural Area – Resolution 2025-073)
An ordinance modifying the citizen-initiated ordinance approved by the registered electors in April 2021, which required the City of Fort Collins to rezone, acquire, and use for specified purposes the approximately 165-acre parcel of real property formerly home to the Hughes Stadium, so as to require that the property be designated and used 100% as a City natural area.
______ Yes/For
______ No/Against
Summary:
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.
An initiative petition for a citizen-initiated ordinance amending the terms of the 2021 initiative so as to require that the former Hughes Stadium property be designated and used 100% as City natural area was submitted to the City, certified as sufficient, and approved to move forward to the next regular City election on November 4, 2025.
As stated in the citizen-initiated ordinance: “Since the passage of the ballot initiative and subsequent purchase of the former Hughes Stadium property, public discussions and stakeholder processes have occurred regarding the specific allowable future uses of the former Hughes Stadium property. Some residents and elected officials have expressed confusion about the ballot initiative's intent related to the future uses of the former Hughes Stadium property during those discussions and stakeholder processes.” The purpose of the initiated ordinance is to require that the Hughes property be designated and used entirely as a City Natural Area, considered by the initiative proponents to best reflect the intent of the 2021 ballot initiative.
What a “Yes” vote means:
A “Yes” vote indicates the voter approves of the citizen-initiated ordinance requiring that 100% of the Hughes Stadium property be designated and used as a City natural area.
What a “No” vote means:
A “No” vote indicates the voter does not approve of the citizen-initiated ordinance requiring that 100% of the Hughes Stadium property be designated and used as a City natural area.