The protest brought upon by a Telluride local has been canceled and for numerous reasons; see below article from the Daily Planet.
Housing initiative hearing canceled
Petitioner withdrew protest Monday
• By Justin Criado, Editor
The logo of the citizen-initiated ballot proposal to cap short-term rental licenses. A protest against the proposal was withdrawn Monday, which meant the protest hearing scheduled for Tuesday afternoon was canceled. (Courtesy image)
A protest challenging the citizen-initiated ballot proposal to cap short-term rental licenses was officially withdrawn Monday, according Telluride Town Clerk Tiffany Kavanaugh.
The petitioner, local Stacy Ticsay, filed the protest before the Aug. 24 Telluride Town Council meeting, during which it was to be discussed and either adopted as an ordinance by council members or sent to the voters as part of the Nov. 2 ballot.
The protest was filed within the 40-day contest period following the date of certification of the petition. After a slight adjustment to the timeframe due to a scheduling conflict, the protest hearing, during which Kavanaugh would have served as the hearing officer and made a decision based on the arguments of the two parties, was scheduled for Tuesday from 12:30-3:30 p.m.
“The possible outcomes could be that I find that either there are grounds for the protests, or there’s not grounds for the protest and then it could still be sent to the ballot,” Kavanaugh said during the Aug. 24 council meeting when the protest was presented and explained to council.
Ticsay’s protest, which was filed through Denver attorney Trey Rogers, alleged that the language used in the title of the citizen’s petition is “misleading” and does not “fairly reflect the true intent and meaning of the measure.”
The protest argued that using an “impermissible catch phrase” — long-term rental opportunities for local residents — should invalidate the petition. The petition’s title, placed above the full text of the proposed measure, read “A citizen initiated ordinance authorizing the Town of Telluride to cap the quantity of short-term rental units within the Town of Telluride for purposes of promoting long-term rental housing opportunities for local residents” in all caps.
Ticsay was not immediately available for an interview before press time Tuesday afternoon. Kavanaugh confirmed the protest hearing cancelation to the Daily Planet Monday.
“The petitioner, Stacy Ticsay, withdrew the protest (Monday) around noon. With no protest pending, the hearing was vacated,” she explained.
The protest was originally posted on the initiative’s website tellurneighbor.org with the protester’s name redacted, but that’s public information, Kavanaugh had said at the time of the filing.
The protesters argued the petition was invalid because the insertion of the title, which they alleged is contrary to the Town Charter’s stipulations concerning the circulation of a citizen’s petition.
Additionally, Ticsay and Rogers argue that not only is the title impermissible, but misleading, in that it implies that a short-term rental cap will result in long-term housing opportunities.
“Instead of simply stating that their measure would cap the quantity of short-term rental units within the Town, their title goes on to argue that their measure will promote ‘long-term rental opportunities,’” the protest read.
Town Council will now consider the initiative Thursday, as was originally planned last week.
The locals — Hayley Nenadal, Olivia Lavercombe and Emily Scott Robinson — behind the initiative posted on update on its Facebook page Monday.
“The truth about this protest? It COST MONEY. TAXPAYER MONEY. The Town Clerk’s office hired legal counsel for this protest and have been preparing for it for a week. That is, as you might imagine, not free.
We got word of this cancellation 90 MINUTES before all the legal briefs were due,” it read. “Seriously? We are relieved this frivolous protest is being withdrawn, of course. But we are also confused and dismayed that this protest WASTED taxpayer dollars and, quite honestly, wasted everyone’s time and energy.
“Do you feel exhausted by it all? We certainly do. But hang in there with us … There is REAL work that needs to be done with all members of our community coming to the table, finding common ground and solutions to our housing crisis! We are honestly thrilled to see how much energy our Citizen’s Initiative has catalyzed in Telluride and are SO grateful for your engagement in this critical issue! No matter where you stand on this issue, thank you for speaking up. Thank you for supporting the democratic process. We’ll be tuning into Town Council on Thursday for the formal vote to send our initiative to the ballot. Yeehaw! The link to the meeting is on our website!”
Editor’s note: Associate Editor Suzanne Cheavens contributed to this story.