City Council Study Session Agenda and Packet 2019 11 12

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Public hearing. Whenever a municipality intends to adopt a code by reference, the governing body is required to conduct a public hearing.16' The hearing must be scheduled after the introduction of the adopting ordinance, and notice of the hearing must be published twice in a newspaper of general circulation15' — once at least 15 days before the hearing date and once again at least eight days before the date of the hearing.153 The notice of hearing must include all of the following: time and place of the hearing; a statement that copies of the primary code and any secondary codes are on file with the clerk and are open for public inspection; a description sufficient to give notice of the purpose and subject matter the code; the full name and address of the agency or municipality originally compiling and publishing the code; and the date of publication of each code.114 Copies of the code. At least one copy of each primary and secondary code, all of which must be certified as true copies by the mayor and the clerk, must be kept on file for public inspection with the clerk for at least 15 days prior to the public hearing and as long as the ordinance remains in force. The only exception is that the copy of the code may be kept on file in the office of the chief enforcement officer (for example, a building code could be kept in the building inspector's office) once the code has been adopted. In addition, the clerk of the municipality must keep on hand a reasonable supply of copies of the code during the period the code is in force. These copies must be available to the public for purchase at a "moderate price."'55 INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM Overview. In the state constitution, the people of Colorado reserved for themselves the fundamental right to initiate and refer their own legislation, independent of the Colorado General Assembly, and independent of municipal governing bodies. Municipal voters may initiate a proposed ordinance by petition. In addition, after an ordinance is passed by the governing body, local citizens also may require, through a referendum petition, that they be given an opportunity to have a popular vote on the ordinance before it becomes law. Both of these rights are guaranteed in Article V, sections 1 and 9 of the state constitution and further addressed in state statute."' Initiated ordinances. The initiative process permits citizens to propose their own ordinances if they feel that additional or different laws are needed to meet the community's needs or desires, or that the governing body is refusing or failing to act in accordance with their wishes. Such proposed "initiated" ordinance drives ("initiatives") force the governing body to either adopt the proposed ordinance, or to submit it to the voters at a municipal election. The first step in the initiative process is the submission by an interested citizen of written notice of the proposed ordinance to the municipal clerk or other election official.157 Following the submission of this notice, a petition must be submitted to the town or city clerk for his or her approval based on a determination as to whether the form of the petition satisfies the statutory requirements.151 After the clerk approves the proposed petition, the proponents have 180 days to file the petition with the clerk containing the signatures of at least five percent of the total number of the municipality's registered electors as of the date of the notice.15' Assuming the signatures are gathered and approved by the clerk, the proposed ordinance must either be adopted without alteration by the governing body within 20 days,1611 or referred to the a popular vote at a regular or special election. This election must be held at least 60 days but not more than 150 days after the petition is determined to be sufficient."' There are many statutory requirements that govern the initiative process. It is strongly recommended that legal counsel be consulted for guidance in connection with any proposed citizen initiative. 151 C.R.S. § 31-16-203. 152 Or, if there is no newspaper, notice must be posted as discussed previously. 153 C.R.S. §§ 31-16-203, 205. 154 C.R.S. § 31-16-203. 155 C.R.S. § 31-16-206. 156 COLO. CoNST. art. V, §§ 1, 9; C.R.S. §§ 31-11-101 et seq. 157 C.R.S. § 31-11-104. 158 C.R.S. § 31-11-106. 159 C.R.S. § 31-11-104(1). 160 See C.R.S. § 31-11-104(1) (if vetoed by the mayor, an ordinance must be adopted by a two-thirds majority within 10 days). 161 C.R.S. § 31-11-104(1) (If a scheduled regular election happens to fall within this time frame, then the initiative may be added to the existing regular election ballot. If not, a special election must be called). Heather Balser / City of Louisville OrdeCopyright 201 byC er Date: 10/3 vzol9 COLORADO MUNCIPAL GOVERNMENT. AN INTRODUCTION Copyright by Ci�