Council changes policy on leasing public land

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, July 10, 2002 | 9:28 a.m.

A September ballot question has already changed the way Boulder City leaders lease city-owned land -- at least in principle, if not in practice.

On Tuesday the Boulder City Council approved an ordinance that requires a "super majority" vote rather than a "simple majority" to lease city-owned land.

On the five-member council that means a proposed lease needs four votes instead of three.

But a petition-initiated ballot question would take that power from the council altogether, requiring that all leases of more than 10 acres be approved by residents.

The city owns close to 200 square miles of mostly raw desert, and many residents say the temptation to develop could prove too much for a future council, given that the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the nation is just north of Railroad Pass.

City officials say that if the initiative passes, it could stop future leases by "politicizing" the process. The city earns $2.8 million each year from leases to a power plant, golf course and telecommunications companies. Mayor Bob Ferraro and Councilman Bryan Nix said they couldn't remember a time when a land lease had been approved with less than a "super majority" vote. Nix couldn't remember even a dissenting vote.

If nothing more, the new law would be a good gesture, Ferraro said.

Nix was doubtful.

"If this is to calm the fears of those people that don't trust government to make decisions on behalf of the residents, I don't know that this will do it," he said.

Bill Ferrence, manager of the Boulder City Credit Union, said he liked the gesture, but had his doubts about its ability to sway voters, too. The fear of development in the town of 15,000 may be too strong, he said.

"If we decided to reverse our controls, we could be at a population of 200,000 in five years," he said. "It would be, 'Katie bar the door.' "