Castle Pines Voter Approval for Annexations

Question 300 adds a new section to the Castle Pines Home Rule Charter. The city may annex property in excess of 20 acres that is owned or controlled by a single owner or ownership group, or that is part of a common plan of development or related transactions, only after its registered electors approve the annexation at an election. Residents put the question on the ballot by petition. The City Council set the ballot title, as state law requires, and said in Resolution 26-50 that it was not conceding the provision is valid or waiving any right to challenge it.

Today annexation is the council's decision. The Annexation Policy the council adopted on August 25 calls it "a discretionary legislative decision of the City Council." The Denver Gazette described the amendment as requiring voter approval in addition to City Council approval.

The provision treats "any single, successive, cumulative, serial or simultaneous annexations of multiple parcels" as a single annexation, citing C.R.S. Section 31-12-104(1)(a). The 20-acre line applies to the combined area brought in as a series of pieces or as several parcels at once.

A council staff report lists annexations since the city incorporated in 2008, among them The Canyons (3,343 acres, 2009) and Lagae South (354 acres, 2012), both larger than 20 acres, and Sage Village (2.28 acres, 2016) and Havana Street (5.39 acres, 2024), both smaller. The Denver Gazette reported that residents organized the initiative in response to the proposed Crowsnest development, a petition for approximately 795 acres that the applicant withdrew in March 2026.

Question 300 sets a standing rule: covered land needs voter approval before the city annexes it. Question 301 sends to the voters for ratification any annexation, within 180 days of 301's effective date, of a parcel over 20 acres owned or controlled by a single owner or ownership group. It carries no common-plan test and no aggregation clause, and the council may repeal it by ordinance if no such annexation occurs in that period.

Question 300 has no end date and no repeal clause. Under Section 14.7, the charter is amended at an election, on a question the council or the electors submit, so undoing it takes another citywide vote.

The council opposed Question 300 in Resolution 26-53; the Denver Gazette reported Councilmember Deborah Mulvey cast the only vote against the resolution. The resolution calls annexation "among the most significant long-term land use, fiscal, infrastructure, and community-planning decisions made by a municipality." It says Lone Tree, Parker and Castle Rock have no such requirement, so owners may petition one of those cities for annexation and build under its standards. It also says residents can already use the initiative against an annexation the council approves, and that case-by-case review preserves the council's ability to negotiate annexation terms and public benefits.