by Osman Parvez
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A quarter of the 9000+ signatures gathered by opponents of Washington Village were not registered to vote in Boulder. The group is just 86 short. With 10 days and their well organized efforts, there’s no doubt they’ll get the signatures needed to certify their petition. It’s a given.

So now what?

It will first go to City Council, with four new members (of seven total), who can choose to reverse their decision to change zoning to allow the Washington Village project. There’s a fair chance that the new members will help the Council’s decision. If not, it goes to the citizenry of Boulder to be decided in NEXT November’s election although the Council could decide to create a special election sooner.

There’s a lot up in the air in this issue. The people who’ve placed deposits on property and the developer have a lot to lose (no pun intended). I’m not sure they will be willing to wait until next November. If the Council doesn’t create a special election, it may be a default decision to terminating the project. Either way, clearly Boulder Valley School District and the City Council will be in the spotlight on this issue for some time to come.

The best course of action, for all parties involved, would have been a compromise between Jim Leach (the developer) and organizers of the petition. I suppose they still have 10 days to try to get that done. On the other hand, with so many people having pounded the pavement to get signatures not to mention the intention/good faith of those that signed… perhaps the time for negotiation is already over.

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