In a meeting punctuated with disagreement, people talking over each other and outbursts, the Dillon Town Council voted 5-2 Tuesday, March 11, to approve an amendment to a metro district service plan.

The controversial vote came during what was three council members’ last meeting after Dillon residents voted earlier this month to remove them from office. Those recalled members — John Woods, Renee Imamura and Dana Christiansen — were joined by council members Rachel Tuyn and Oliver Luck in voting for the amendment to the metro district. Mayor Carolyn Skowyra and member Kyle Hendricks voted against it.

Woods, Imamura and Christiansen remained on the council for Tuesday’s meeting because the results of the recall election weren’t certified until Wednesday, March 12, due time necessary for any overseas ballots to be counted.

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During the meeting, several residents called on the council to hold off on voting on the matter until the newly elected council members were seated. But other residents, as well as local business owners, said that the outgoing members should vote on the matter.

“Pushing and rushing this decision feels like an attempt to steamroll the community,” incoming council member Barbara Richard said during public comment. “We have had a recall election, and this type of behavior is not appropriate. This all needs to wait until the new council is installed.”

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The amendment to Triveni Square Metro District’s service plan that the council approved allows the metro district to modify its inclusionary area to add a site where developer Jake Porritt has proposed retail and workforce housing. It also allows them to add town-owned properties near the Pug Ryan’s Brewery — where Porritt has proposed a grocery store, restaurant and parking structure — to the inclusionary area and remove 312 Dillon Ridge Road, a location where Porritt had previously considered for workforce housing.

The Triveni Square Metro District is a funding mechanism meant to help finance infrastructure for projects Porritt is proposing in town. It was a topic of much debate in the run-up to the recall election that concluded in early March.

A lawyer hired by the town previously said that including a property in a metro district’s inclusionary area doesn’t add it to the metro district but gives the property owner the ability to petition to join the district.

In her public comment Tuesday, Richard said that there are “defects” with the metro district’s request for an amendment. She said that since the council approved the metro district’s service plan in 2023, there have been major changes to the developer’s plans that warrant an update to the service plan and constitute a “material modification.”

But Trish Harris, an attorney representing the Triveni Square Metro District, said that that would not constitute a “material modification” — which is a legal term defined by statute — because the metro district is not asking to change what type of infrastructure it funds. Harris also said that the existing service plan allows for “sufficient flexibility” for changes to development plans. She said the amendment the council voted on Tuesday was for the “limited purposes” of changing the inclusionary area.

Speaking during the meeting, Porritt said that the decision has not been rushed because there have been multiple meetings on his projects over a three-year period as well as recent meetings on the metro district amendment. He said, “a lot of people are still confused and having trouble with comprehension of what this metro district does,” despite his team’s effort to educate the public.

Carolyn Kwak, an attorney representing Porritt, said that there are more than 2,000 metro districts in Colorado that exist so that developments that might not otherwise be able to be completed can be constructed. Kwak said that the “incoming council members are pursuing an anti-development agenda by any means necessary.”

Citizen comments

Dillon resident Rabbi Joel Schwartzman started out his public comment with a quacking sound, which he said was for the “lame ducks” on the council. Schwartzman said that he is proud of his vote to recall the three council members and he considers the meeting Tuesday “illegitimate.”

“This meeting is a joke,” Schwartzman said. “It ought not happen, and it’s just part of what has transpired over three years where you guys played keep-away from the constituents that voted you out of office.”

Summit Cove resident Robin Robson said that the recalled members are “pushing their agenda down the throats of the people.” Robson said that those asking for the vote to be tabled are not asking for a “huge delay” but only a few more days until the new council can be seated.

Dillon resident Shannon White requested that the council table the vote on the metro district matter.

White said, “The new council members elected by a clear majority of Dillon voters should have the opportunity to review and vote on this proposal.”

Another Dillon resident, Chuck Savall, in public comment told the recalled members, “You don’t represent us. You three have never represented us.”

But Dillon resident David Huerta said that he’s a “proponent of development.”

Huerta said, “I think people are having their feelings get in the way and fear get in the way. That’s unfortunate because progress is here.”

Chris Locke, the owner of Pug Ryan’s Brewery, said that he is frustrated to hear residents say that the process has been rushed. Locke said that the town of Dillon needs more development to attract people to businesses like his.

“This has been going on for three years. There have been many, many, many, many months of negotiation and consideration on the public finance agreement, (and) many, many, many different sets of plans have been brought forth,” Locke said. “There have been several public hearings. There have been several public meetings. I just don’t understand how people think we need to take more time.”

Nick Dunham, the owner of the Dillon Laundromat, said he has been working with Porritt for years to find a new home for his business when the Payne building is redeveloped. Dunham said that Porritt’s plans include needed workforce housing and retail space.

“It really just seems like a no-brainer,” Dunham said. “I know that a lot of people have issues with the metro district, but a lot of that is comprehension issues and not understanding what it is.”

George Swintz, who said he owns a 5,000-square-foot commercial space in Dillon, also spoke in favor of approving the metro district amendment. Swintz noted that buildings in town have deteriorated to the point where they are in need of redevelopment. He said, “I encourage you not to reject this opportunity. Rather than to resist change, take a forward look.”

Council deliberation

Before the town council voted on whether to approve the requested amendment to the Triveni Square Metro District service plan, Mayor Skowyra asked a couple of questions to the developer and his team.

Skowyra asked whether the changes to the service plan constitute a “material modification,” to which Porritt replied that they do not. She also asked Porritt why the Town Hall is in the metro district’s inclusionary area even though she has said that the town has had no interest in the property joining the metro district.

“While I understand you’ve been vocal about wanting to change things in the (service) plan, the plan was voted on as it exists,” Porritt said. “We’re not trying to make changes unless somebody affirmatively tells us to, and we’ve been given no affirmative direction from council to remove it from the map. If they had given us that direction, collectively, we would have done so.”

Though Skowyra said that she had more questions for the applicant, Imamura, Woods, Christiansen and Tuyn voted to close the public hearing and end questions. Hendricks, who said he also had questions for Porritt, joined the mayor in voting against closing the public hearing.

“I don’t think we’ve had any thorough discussion here tonight,” Skowyra said. “There have been a lot of questions posed by the public that it is our duty to ask and to get information before we shut down the information gathering period.”

Christiansen said that Skowyra was attempting to “extort” a metro district renegotiation from Porritt and has “been trying to stand in the way of development.” He said that “all the business people who spoke up tonight, some of which are under contract (with Porritt), have the right to move forward with their contracts, and Dillon has the right to move forward with the projects we’ve approved.”

Skowyra moved to continue the hearing to the March 25 meeting, but the vote failed 2-5, with only her and Hendricks voting in favor. She then introduced a motion to approve the service plan amendment with the conditions that the Town Hall property be removed from the inclusionary area and “mandating” workforce housing on the parcel where Porritt has proposed workforce housing.

Skowyra said that she understands that development will occur in Dillon and that the metro district is a “funding mechanism.” She said the condition related to workforce housing would help ensure that Porritt would execute on the workforce housing concept he has presented.

Porritt started to respond, but Skowyra noted that the public hearing had ended.

“Those considerations can be considered as part of the future council,” Christiansen said. “That’s not part of tonight’s discussion.”

The council eventually voted to approve the amendment to the metro district service plan as it was presented to them with no conditions.