WHY LITTLETON NEEDS A CHARTER AMENDMENT FOR ITS HOUSING SOLUTION
Preserve Littleton’s small-town charm and beauty. Littleton residents choose not to live in Denver for a reason. Pave over Littleton’s small-town charm and beauty and you start to get Denver. Replace yards for kids with more multiplexes and you start to get Denver. Stop requiring developers to provide parking with new housing starts and you start to get congested streets like Denver. The proposed charter amendment provides time to construct positive housing solutions where they are needed in Littleton, not just anywhere developers want them.
Listen to Littleton. 76% of Littleton registered voters said they want a voice in all major housing legislation, especially as it relates to adding duplexes, triplexes and multiplexes in currently zoned single family residential neighborhoods. The proposed charter amendment will give the people of Littleton a seat at the table in determining future housing legislation.
Littleton is five years ahead of plan. Littleton has over 3,000 new home starts planned for 2025 and the State’s new ADU legislation begins July 1, 2025, making ADU construction permissible on every single-family residential lot in Littleton. This puts Littleton nearly five years ahead of its 20-year housing target of 6,500 new homes by 2040 as detailed in the Littleton’s Comprehensive Plan, Envision Littleton. If Littleton City Council wants to move the goal posts and change the city’s long-term housing plan for 6,500 new homes by 2040, the proposed charter amendment would require them to involve the residents of Littleton and let people vote on it.
Positive solutions, not panic solutions. Rooted in Littleton’s goal is to create a positive long-term solution to Littleton’s housing needs. To do that, we need to digest the current flurry of building and then decide if we need to revise our 20-year housing goal. We will not be deceived by panic-driven solutions manufactured by politicians promoting election-time agendas. The proposed charter amendment provides time to do that.
Stand up for Littleton. Littleton is a home-rule city which means we have the right to determine our housing priorities. Unfortunately, our mayor and most of our city council have been reluctant to advocate for our home-rule rights. The State continues to create legislative proposals attempting to erode our home-rule rights with a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach that could strip our community of its uniqueness. Now they’ve added the threat of withholding funds. And the idea of “Be like Denver or else” is not an acceptable way to plan Littleton’s future housing needs. While the proposed charter amendment cannot protect us against state-overreach, it will clearly show that the State is violating the will of the people if they continue to impose their will on our local housing policies. Our Charter Amendment will not protect us from state overreach, but it will protect us from future overreach efforts by our city council.
Petition to Amend the Littleton City Charter to Protect Single Family Residential Zoning
Whereas on January 7, 2025 Littleton’s city council, through a text change to the Uniform Land Use Code, attempted to rezone most residential properties in Littleton, allowing duplexes, triplexes, and multiplexes in single-family residential neighborhoods. While their effort failed, this issue is still in consideration by some members of the city council. Therefore, shall the following proposed amendment to the Littleton City Charter be submitted to voters at the next regular election on November 4, 2025?
Section 65.5 — Preservation of Neighborhood Land Use Restrictions.
Shall Section 65.5. Preservation of Neighborhood Land Use Restrictions, be added to clarify the intent of the citizens to preserve single-family residential land use and ensure that current and future owners of property in certain residential zoning districts may rely on restrictions on land uses that protect their properties. Accordingly, land uses of properties presently permitted under the Littleton Unified Land Use Code (ULUC) within zoning districts Small Lot Residential (SLR), Medium Lot Residential (MLR), Large Lot
Residential (LLR), and Acreage Residential (ACR) are limited to uses specified therein as of January 1, 2025.
Furthermore, any action by Council to initiate any comprehensive rezoning and official zoning map amendments, including text changes, shall first require notification to all affected property owners by first-class mail delivered by the United States Postal Service. Nothing herein shall prohibit or prevent a property owner from seeking rezoning of the owner’s property.
YOUR VOICE & YOUR VOTE MATTERS
You spoke, we listened. Many people still feel unheard on the Littleton housing density issue. So we hired a professional survey and polling company and asked over 1,100 residents what they’d like to see happen here.
