Colorado § 31-25-302 - Questions submitted to registered electors.

§ 31-25-302. Questions submitted to registered electors.

(1) Lands or interests in land which may be necessary, suitable, or proper for any of the purposes named in section 31-25-301, either within or without the municipal limits of such town, may be set aside by any such town and devoted to such purposes out of any lands or parcels of lands owned or possessed by any such town. Said lands may be acquired by gift, purchase, devise, or other transfer in the manner provided by law. No lands or interests in land shall be purchased for any such purpose unless the board of trustees of such town adopts an ordinance authorizing such acquisition and stating the location and legal description of the lands to be acquired and, in case of purchase, the price to be paid and the manner of payment or unless the proposal to acquire such lands is submitted upon petition pursuant to subsection (3) of this section and approved by the registered electors of such town.

(2) No indebtedness shall be created nor shall any bonds be issued for acquiring such parks or establishing such boulevards, parkways, or roads unless the question of incurring such debt and issuing such bonds has been submitted, at a regular election in such town, to a vote of those persons qualified to vote on authorization of other bonded indebtedness and approved as required by section 31-15-302 (1)(d).

(3) The board of trustees of such town shall submit, upon petition of the registered electors of such town equal in number to at least one-tenth of the number of such electors voting at the last regular election of such town, at the next regular election, the question of the acquisition of such lands and the establishment of such boulevards, parkways, and roads, or the question of incurring bonded indebtedness, or both such questions. The board of trustees shall state, in the ordinance submitting the question of the acquisition of lands and the establishment of boulevards, parkways, and roads, the location of the land proposed to be acquired, describing the same by legal subdivisions, and the price to be paid in case of purchase and the manner of payment. If the only question to be submitted is the acquisition of such properties, the question may be submitted at a regular or special election. If the majority of those voting upon the acquisition question at such election vote for the acquisition of such lands for such purposes, the board of trustees shall acquire such lands for those purposes. If the bonded indebtedness is approved as required by section 31-15-302 (1)(d), the board of trustees shall contract the necessary indebtedness and issue the necessary bonds therefor.

Source: L. 75: Entire title R&RE, p. 1180, § 1, effective July 1.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 31-25-302 as it existed prior to 1975.

ANNOTATION

There are two separate and distinct procedures by which acquisition of land may be initiated: (1) Land may be acquired if the trustees on their own adopt an ordinance to authorize the acquisition; or (2) if a proposal to acquire such lands is submitted upon petition and approved by the registered electors of such town, then the trustees must draft an ordinance, and submit the matter to the electors. Bristow v. Town of Castle Rock, 44 Colo. App. 82, 612 P.2d 1144 (1980).