Efforts aimed at curtailing construction growth in Lakewood until a strategic plan can be developed are drawing political fire.

The Lakewood Strategic Growth Initiative and a separate effort by a city council member to place a moratorium on growth have faced a backlash from the right-leaning Americans For Prosperity, and within the community.

On Monday, a Lakewood resident sent a legal letter to City Clerk Margy Greer asking the clerk’s office to hold off on validating petition signatures until a hearing could be held to determine the legality of the initiative.

The Lakewood Strategic Growth Initiative would place a 1 percent annual limit on residential growth. The proposal would also establish a permit system, requiring city council approval for all projects of 40 units or more while lifting permit requirements for redevelopment of existing units in “blighted or distressed areas.”

Critics argue that the measure is unconstitutional because it is trying to shackle all future city councils, which can’t be done through initiative, and instead has to be changed through city charter.

“The proposal is an absolute train wreck,” said Steve Dorman, who initiated the lawsuit. “It is 14 pages and 4,800 words of convoluted nonsense that will kill jobs, make housing for families and seniors unaffordable, and make it impossible for anyone without a lawyer or lobbyist to build a home or a business.

“And the ordinance is blatantly illegal – if the no-growth crowd wants to make it impossible for future city councils to allow more than 1 percent growth, they would need to amend the city charter, not an ordinance.”

Enter Americans for ProsperityWhat makes AFP’s role in the conversation interesting is that they have so far targeted Councilwoman Ramey Johnson, a Republican. The organization usually steers clear of Republicans, but this year they have targets over the issue of growth.

Lakewood – at the center of the construction defect litigation debate for several years, in which state lawmakers this year passed reform to spur development – has several forces attempting to curb development.

Johnson, who ran for mayor two years ago and lost to Adam Paul in one of the tightest races in the state, proposed a short-term moratorium on the city’s zoning ordinance to deal with high-density apartment buildings that she believes are not serving the community well.

“I wanted to look at a moratorium, which apparently is a word that has caused some attention,” Johnson told Colorado Politics. “I wanted to have just a short-term moratorium so that council could spend some real quality time and look at some things in our zoning ordinance that I think are problematic.”

Enter AFP, a Koch brothers-funded national political beast, which distributed door hangers that stated, “Councilmember Ramey Johnson Wants to INCREASE THE COST OF LIVING For Lakewood Residents!”

Another hanger read, “Lakewood City Councilmember Ramey Johnson wants to block the building of new apartments in Lakewood. This JOB-KILLING PROPOSAL Will Hurt The Residents of Lakewood!”

Why would a right-leaning organization such as AFP attack a local Republican like Johnson? Because AFP believes in free market development, explained Jesse Mallory, state director for AFP.

“This is the wrong solution to our problem. It would set a precedent across the state for people across the state to follow similar paths,” Mallory said. “We’re a policy organization, the letter behind your name is irrelevant. It’s about policy.”

Johnson said the entire issue could have been cleared up had she had the chance to speak with AFP ahead of the attacks.

“I would have been happy to explain to them what the intent was. They never reached out,” Johnson said. “That speaks more of them than it does of me.”

Lakewood Strategic Growth InitiativeSeparate of Johnson’s proposal is the Lakewood Strategic Growth Initiative. Proponents just recently handed in more than 7,500 signatures and are awaiting approval from the clerk’s office to see if they hit the 5,165 valid signatures needed to make the ballot. As with most municipal ballot initiatives, the city council could elect to enact the proposal by ordinance in lieu of a November ballot question.

Johnson said she has taken no position yet on the ballot initiative. In fact, she said she hasn’t even read it, despite it likely coming before the council.

“I personally so far have not read it all …. I’ve got other things on my plate,” Johnson said. “So, when the time comes that it’s actually a reality, then yes, I will be reading it.”

Some Lakewood residents believe the initiative is complex and confusing, which they say is how proponents were able to convince Lakewood voters to sign the petition that would place it on the ballot.

Cassie Tanner, a Lakewood resident who worked as Mayor Paul’s campaign manager two years ago and serves as treasurer of the West Metro Fire Protection District, is asking council and the mayor to fully disclose the 14 pages and nearly 5,000 words that make up the Strategic Growth Initiative.

Instead, voters were presented with a one-sentence summary when they were handed petitions. If the issue makes the ballot, Tanner and others would like to see the full language presented to voters.

“I believe people signed the petition without knowing what they were signing up for,” Tanner said. “While it may be too late for the petition signers, Lakewood voters deserve to see the fine print before they decide whether to support or oppose this measure.”

“Instead of a commonsense, case-by-case review of applications on their merits, the ballot measure would impose an arbitrary cap on residential growth and a bizarre new bureaucratic system for allocating new housing permits,” Tanner wrote to council. “Rather than ensure balanced growth in our community, it will chase investment out of our city, artificially restrict the supply of housing in our community, and drive up the cost of living for working and middle-class families and seniors.”

She goes on to take a dig at Boulder, adding, “To put it bluntly, this ballot measure tries to turn Lakewood into Boulder – a city for wealthy elites and nobody else.”

But Cathy Kentner, one of the proponents behind the initiative, said the effort is simply aimed at strategic development in a “responsible, reasonable and rational way.”

“This whole letter seems to be an orchestrated effort by the mayor’s campaign manager and a pro-development coalition to override our local community voices,” said Kentner, a Jefferson County public schools music teacher and a single mother.

Even if the council and citizens urge the clerk’s office to print the full language on the ballot, assuming it appears before voters, there are issues of cost to keep in mind. It would be expensive to print such a lengthy question.

Kentner, however, is not opposed to including the full language, adding, “Since Day 1 that this was approved for circulation, we have had the full language on our website. It’s wonderful. I think it would help our cause if everybody would read the full 14 pages.

“We are not pro-growth or anti-growth, we’re for strategic growth.”

As for the politics, Kentner added, “It’s all way more political than both of us who are trying to do something good for our community realized.”