The Dillon Town Clerk will hold a public hearing Tuesday, July 16, on the ballot title for the referendum petition that citizens filed earlier this year in protest of the approval of a major lakefront development.

The hearing, which town code requires be held before the ballot title is set, is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Dillon Town Hall. The purpose of the hearing is to consider the proposed ballot title, which asks whether voters should approve the project at 626 Lake Dillon Drive.

The Dillon Town Council approved planned unit development for a five-story structure with 200 condominium units, three restaurants and retail space for that location in a 4-2 vote on March 19, despite many residents raising concerns including about the size and scale of the building and the lack of workforce housing associated with it.

The petition received signatures from the prerequisite 15% of registered Dillon voters, sending the question of the project’s approval back to the Dillon Town Council last month for reconsideration. 

After the Dillon Town Council voted for a second time to approve the project, state law requires that the question of the project’s approval move to a town referendum vote, which has been scheduled for Oct. 1.

Jake Porritt, the developer who proposed the project where the Best Western Ptarmigan Lodge and defunct Arapahoe Cafe currently stand, has laid out “binary” options for what will be developed at the property.

At a public meeting Porritt scheduled last month, he told residents that if the citizens vote to overturn the Town Council’s approval of the planned unit development for the project, he will instead construct a building that is allowed “by right” under the existing zoning. 

Unlike a planned unit development, that project would not have to go before the Town Council for final approval and could move forward so long as it meets the requirements of the Residential High Zoning District the property is zoned for.

Porritt has said that instead of having a 70-foot setback for the park, the “by right” building would back right up to the 20-foot setback allowed under the existing zoning and therefore would appear larger and more obstructive to views of the lakefront. The commercial components of the project would also be lost with the “by right” building, he said, since the underlying zoning doesn’t allow for commercial uses.