Allegations of sign stealing and electioneering have emerged in the Lakewood special election over zoning.

A resident recently shared security camera footage online of a man appearing to steal an opposition door knocker. Meanwhile, the city also filed a complaint against the Green Mountain Water and Sanitation District, alleging electioneering.

Last October, the city approved a new zoning code that changed the language around single-family zoning, allowing for single-family homes, duplexes, tri-plexes, and townhomes throughout the city. Residents who opposed the changes gathered the signatures to force a special election on the changes.

Proponents like Make Lakewood Livable say the zoning changes would help create homes for the “missing middle” — people who, they argue, cannot afford current single-family homes but make too much money to access low-income housing.

Opposition groups, such as Lakewood Citizens Alliance and Lakewood Stronger Together, counter that the changes would affect the city’s “unique character” and damage single-family home neighborhoods with overdevelopment.

Hensley shared a video on social media of a man allegedly from the Lakewood Citizens Alliance taking campaign literature from Make Lakewood Livable off of his door on Friday. The man then replaced the letter with his own, opposing literature, according to the video.

Hensley, a local pastor who works with the Make Lakewood Livable campaign, immediately started sharing the video.

In a follow-up news release, Make Lakewood Livable claimed that the man was a Lakewood Citizen Alliance donor and a recent planning commission applicant.

Karen Gordey, campaign manager for Lakewood Citizens’ Alliance, told The Denver Gazette that the matter was addressed immediately.

“Removing another campaign’s materials is not acceptable and does not reflect the standards of our campaign,” she said. “We have reinforced clear guidelines with all volunteers to ensure this does not happen again.”

Sophia Mayott-Guerrero, Make Lakewood Livable campaign manager and a former city councilmember, called it an “illegal act.”

“The larger problem is that this is a pattern of wrongdoing that we are seeing from the opposite side. It’s truly unacceptable,” she said.

Mayott-Guerrero claimed that opposing campaigns have shared misinformation and engaged in fear mongering, such as via yard signs saying the city would “bulldoze Lakewood neighborhoods.”

Gordey said the Lakewood Citizens Alliance’s mission is “engaging respectfully with residents and making sure voters have clear, accurate information about the issue.”

Meanwhile, the city of Lakewood filed a complaint against Green Mountain Water and Sanitation District on March 19 regarding an informational card sent out to residents, calling it “electioneering communication.”

The card noted an ongoing lawsuit between the district and the city over the zoning changes and why the latter could impact the city’s water.

While the card did not say how to vote, it pointed to the April 7 election.

Under the city’s campaign and finance codes, the district is required to report to the City Clerk how much it spent on electioneering material. The district is estimated to have spent about $8,550 total, but filed nothing with the city, the latter said.

The card was also required to say who paid for it, but didn’t, the city said.

The Denver Gazette reached out to the district for a statement on the complaint, but did not hear back by the time this report published.