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Visit www.steamboatpilot.com/election2009 for complete coverage of this year's races and issues.

Steamboat Springs — With the approval of Referendum 2C on Tuesday, city voters made it easier for residents to formally challenge decisions made by the Steamboat Springs City Council.

The referendum passed with 64 percent of the vote, 1,947 to 1,114.

The passage of Referendum 2C reduces the number of signatures needed for a successful petition that refers a City Council decision back to that council, from 20 percent to 10 percent of the registered voters in the last regular municipal election. Referendum 2C also changes Steamboat Springs' 1973 home rule charter to allow zoning or rezoning decisions to be referred back to City Council with a petition drive.

Both changes align the city's charter with petition laws in the state constitution.

City Council President Loui Antonucci said a desire for that alignment drove the City Council to place Referendum 2C on the ballot.

"I think the issue is that our charter is not consistent with the state constitution - we don't have a lot of referendums in this community, but any time that we did, the City Council would have to hold up its city charter, and that would make us liable to a lawsuit because it's not in compliance with the state constitution," he said. "If the people only got 10 percent of the signatures, it could actually go to court to figure out if it had to be 10 percent or 20 percent."

Such a scenario is no longer possible.

The issue arose earlier this year in discussions about Steamboat 700, the 487-acre annexation that proposes about 2,000 homes and 380,000 square feet of commercial space just west of the current city limits. City Council approved the annexation Oct. 13, in a 4-3 vote.

A group of citizens is collecting signatures for a petition challenging that approval. But the outcome of Referendum 2C had no bearing on that effort. Steamboat 700's annexation agreement stipulates that Steamboat 700 will not challenge a petition that meets the 10 percent threshold.

"We weren't interested in having a dispute with the city over that issue," said local attorney Bob Weiss, who represents Steamboat 700.

The number of signatures required to bring Steamboat 700 to a referendum election is about 829, rather than about 1,900 that would have been required under the city's charter at the 20 percent threshold.

Antonucci said he thinks 10 percent of the electorate is an appropriate figure.

"I'm a firm believer that if you can get 10 percent of the people to sign a petition : it should go to a vote," Antonucci said, before adding a joke. "Not that I like to think we're ever wrong."

- To reach Mike Lawrence, call 871-4233 or e-mail mlawrence@steamboatpilot.com