An initiative that would require Denver to hold a citywide vote before lifting conservation easements was added to the November ballot Tuesday, the initiative’s committee announced.

The Parks and Open Space initiative was led by Save Open Space Denver, a community organization advocating for Park Hill Golf Course to be turned into a city park. The golf course is under a conservation easement that the city says only allows the land to be used as a golf course.

The developer that purchased the golf course land in 2019, Westside Investment Partners Inc., has said it wants to pursue mixed-use development.

Westside and the city would need the public to vote in support to be able to develop the land.

The redevelopment of the 155-acre site has been a contentious issue since the golf course closed in 2018. The community has debated on what to do with the land, including whether to restore the golf course, designate it as open space or turn it into housing and retail.

“This is great news for us and great news for Denver,” said Penfield Tate, leader of the Yes for Parks and Open Space initiative. “Ensuring protection for park land and open space in this city is something that every citizen should have a voice in.”

Owner of Park Hill Golf Course funding ballot measure to counteract opponent’s measure

The language of the initiative prohibits commercial or residential development on land designated as a city park or under a conservation easement, expect for the purpose of creating a new park. This would allow Park Hill Golf Course to be turned into a city park like Save Open Space Denver wants – something the city says isn’t allowed.

Though Save Open Space Denver has argued conservation easements allow land to be used for any open space, the city says the easement only allows the land to be used as a golf course. Because of this, if the ballot initiative fails, the conservation easement would still have to be lifted to make the land a park.

The initiative’s approval comes as Save Open Space Denver announced Wednesday it is suing the city and Mayor Michael Hancock over the Park Hill Golf Course land, claiming the city is spending money and employee hours to develop the land while it is still protected by the conservation easement.

The lawsuit argues that planning for the development while a conservation easement is still in place is illegal.

Earlier this month, Westside also began funding a competing ballot initiative that would effectively cancel out the effects of Save Open Space Denver’s initiative. Westside’s initiative would change the legal definition of a conservation easement to exempt Park Hill Golf Course.

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This means if both initiatives passed, nothing would change and the potential lifting of the golf course’s conservation easement would still be left up to the Denver City Council instead of the city’s voters.

Westside’s ballot initiative uses the same wording as Save Open Space Denver’s initiative, a strategy that is intended to “sow confusion among the voters,” said Lisa Calderon, chief of staff for Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca, in a release about the ballot initiative in early June.

Westside’s legal counsel Thomas Rogers addressed the similarity during a meeting on June 4, saying the initiatives are “identical” besides one addition: “Theirs would apply to, we believe, exactly one property — the Park Hill Golf Course — while ours would apply to no properties at all.”

Rogers argued Save Open Space Denver’s initiative would take away from the community’s voice in how the land is used by opening the decision to the entire city and drowning out the input of the residents who live in the neighborhoods surrounding the golf course.

Westside’s initiative still needs to be approved by a city attorney and the Denver Elections Division before the developer can begin to gather signatures to put it on the November ballot by the July 2 deadline.