Work continues at The Emerson, a high-rise apartment complex in Englewood, on June 20, 2023. A campaign in Englewood by some citizens to oppose new population-dense housing, which also includes an effort to oust more than half of the city council, is in motion. The Emerson, which onsite personnel say should be completed in early 2025, will be a 14-story, 240-unit residential building. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Two members of Englewood’s city council will face a recall election on Oct. 3, with a third also likely to go before voters after a protest period expires this week — all targeted by residents opposed to what they say is overly aggressive and dense development in this southern suburb.
Englewood City Council on Monday set the election for Oct. 3 after Clerk Stephanie Carlile presented the council with petitions for four council members deemed sufficient for recall. However, one of the targeted council members, Cheryl Wink, resigned just before Monday’s meeting, rendering her recall election moot.
According to a letter she submitted, Wink said she was stepping down because she’d been offered “a new opportunity that is the exciting and logical next step in my software engineering career — an opportunity which no longer allows me to fulfill my duties as council member.”
Mayor Othoniel Sierra and Councilwoman Chelsea Nunnenkamp were approved for recall while Councilman Joe Anderson has until Friday to protest the recall attempt.
Monday’s vote was the first reading of the recall ordinance — a second vote will be needed on Aug. 7 to make it official. The recall election, which will be conducted by mail-in balloting, is expected to cost Englewood $137,000.
Recall And Restore Englewood, which describes itself as a group of residents “who are actively fighting against zoning law changes that will allow land developers to change the landscape of their city forever,” spent the last few weeks collecting signatures for the recall election.
Englewood has been on a condo- and apartment-building tear in the last couple of years. The city greenlit projects encompassing 479 units in 2021. As of last summer, it had approved another 231 units and had permits for another 912 condos and apartments under review.
Sierra, whose term ends a month after the October recall election, told The Denver Post last month that he was mystified why he and his three colleagues are in the spotlight. In April, the council decided to table a proposal to allow duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes in areas of the city zoned for single-family homes.
“Apparently, the recall petitioners felt just having the discussions was reason enough for a recall,” he said.
Anderson’s term also ends in November. Nunnenkamp’s term ends in 2025.
This story first ran in the Denver Post, a BusinessDen news partner.
Work continues at The Emerson, a high-rise apartment complex in Englewood, on June 20, 2023. A campaign in Englewood by some citizens to oppose new population-dense housing, which also includes an effort to oust more than half of the city council, is in motion. The Emerson, which onsite personnel say should be completed in early 2025, will be a 14-story, 240-unit residential building. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Two members of Englewood’s city council will face a recall election on Oct. 3, with a third also likely to go before voters after a protest period expires this week — all targeted by residents opposed to what they say is overly aggressive and dense development in this southern suburb.
Englewood City Council on Monday set the election for Oct. 3 after Clerk Stephanie Carlile presented the council with petitions for four council members deemed sufficient for recall. However, one of the targeted council members, Cheryl Wink, resigned just before Monday’s meeting, rendering her recall election moot.
According to a letter she submitted, Wink said she was stepping down because she’d been offered “a new opportunity that is the exciting and logical next step in my software engineering career — an opportunity which no longer allows me to fulfill my duties as council member.”
Mayor Othoniel Sierra and Councilwoman Chelsea Nunnenkamp were approved for recall while Councilman Joe Anderson has until Friday to protest the recall attempt.
Monday’s vote was the first reading of the recall ordinance — a second vote will be needed on Aug. 7 to make it official. The recall election, which will be conducted by mail-in balloting, is expected to cost Englewood $137,000.
Recall And Restore Englewood, which describes itself as a group of residents “who are actively fighting against zoning law changes that will allow land developers to change the landscape of their city forever,” spent the last few weeks collecting signatures for the recall election.
Englewood has been on a condo- and apartment-building tear in the last couple of years. The city greenlit projects encompassing 479 units in 2021. As of last summer, it had approved another 231 units and had permits for another 912 condos and apartments under review.
Sierra, whose term ends a month after the October recall election, told The Denver Post last month that he was mystified why he and his three colleagues are in the spotlight. In April, the council decided to table a proposal to allow duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes in areas of the city zoned for single-family homes.
“Apparently, the recall petitioners felt just having the discussions was reason enough for a recall,” he said.
Anderson’s term also ends in November. Nunnenkamp’s term ends in 2025.
This story first ran in the Denver Post, a BusinessDen news partner.
