Setting the Record Straight
Mayor Kyle Schlacter has made several accusations about our proposed housing charter amendment, so we want to set the record straight. Here is our response to the mayor’s mudslinging published last week as part of his election campaign propaganda.
“The petition proposes to make a sweeping change to our City Charter.”
Considering the number of staff around the mayor, it is surprising he chose to divulge so little about how the charter amendment process works. A petition merely asks voters if they want to see a proposed amendment to the city’s charter get placed on the ballot at the next general election. If enough signatures are gathered to place a proposed amendment on the ballot and it is passed by the majority of Littleton voters, only then would the proposed amendment become law.
Our proposed amendment makes no “sweeping changes” as the current mayor asserts. Instead, it simply preserves existing zoning laws in Littleton and requires the city to inform all residents if they want to propose making changes to those laws. So, our proposed amendment protects residents of Littleton by preventing Mayor Schlacter from attempting a repeat performance of his efforts to push through a new version of last year’s proposed ordinance 31-2024—the blanket density ordinance— that attempted to change Littleton’s ULUC code. By labeling that ordinance as a change to the ULUC code instead a “zoning change,” few people were aware of what Schlacter was up to until it was almost too late. So yes, we are asking for transparency and he’s clearly not comfortable with that.
“(The petition) freezes the city's land use code for residential uses, and the city would not be able to adjust residential uses in the future.”
Again, this is only a petition to place something on the November 4 ballot at this point. However, if placed on the ballot and passed by the majority of Littleton voters, it would give all of us time to assess the impact of Littleton’s 3,000 new home starts in 2025 and the State’s new ADU law which goes into effect July 1, 2025.
“It (proposed charter amendment) would require the city to notify all residents of any map changes or text amendments to the code via first- class mail.”
Ordinance 31-2024 was essentially a text change to the ULUC code that would have created blanket rezoning in Littleton. So yes, we feel Littleton residents should have the right to know if the city is planning another blanket rezoning, a text change to the ULUC code, or any other change that affects property owners, property rights, neighborhoods changes, and Littleton’s small-town charm and beauty. Informing the public in a way that actually reaches the public is simply not too much to ask.
“This petition is deceptively worded to make people think there is a problem. All potential Land Use Code changes go through rigorous review and a public process. Having the ability to adjust our code with the times is reasonable and allows for good governance.”
There is a problem. It’s a problem that 76% of Littleton voters told us through a third- party survey that they feel any change of 10% or more to Littleton’s land use policies should be put to vote and the mayor wants to ignore that directive. It’s a problem that the mayor led an effort to push through blanket rezoning of Littleton’s neighborhoods without adequately informing the residents of those neighborhoods. And it’s a problem to have a sitting mayor claiming this petition and proposed charter amendment are “deceptively worded” after his own city attorney reviewed them thoroughly with our legal counsel and subsequently approved them for petition. The real problem is we have a sitting mayor who continues to defy the will of the people, who avoids transparency and who employs heavy-handed politics to try to discredit a local non-profit group who insists the will of the people must be heard. So, the real question is: is Kyle really for Littleton?
