A group hoping that voters will repeal the Greeley City Council’s approval of the complex financing plan for a $1.1 billion sports and entertainment project on the city’s western edge has won approval of its petition form from the city clerk’s office and began collecting signatures of registered voters over the weekend.
Ordinance 2025-15, approved May 6 by the Greeley City Council, authorizes a $1.1 billion financing plan for an entertainment district on city-owned land near Weld County Road 17 and U.S. Highway 34 that would include an ice arena, hotel and water park and anchor Windsor-based developer Martin Lind’s proposed Cascadia mixed-use development.
The plan authorized the city to mortgage 46 public buildings — including City Hall, the Police Department, City Center North, the Ice Haus and three fire stations — as collateral for the private development. The plan includes using $115 million worth of “certificates of participation” to lease those city facilities to Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorporation as collateral to pay for the first phase of the core entertainment district dubbed “Catalyst.”
In a news release issued late Friday, the citizens group that has formed to take the financing plan to voters, Greeley Deserves Better, said the plan “exposes Greeley citizens to long-term debt and risk — $25 million to $30 million annually regardless of project success.”
The group said volunteers with the campaign will begin collecting signatures at the Greeley Stampede and continue throughout the city at coffee shops, grocery stores and community events over the coming weeks.
“Today’s approval finally gives Greeley voters a voice in this billion-dollar decision,” Dan Wheeler, the campaign co-chair and owner of Wheeler Properties Inc., said in a prepared statement. “Now that we have the green light, we’re hitting the ground running to ensure voters have the chance to reject this risky deal at the ballot box.”
Added the other co-chair, Pam Bricker, former executive director of the Greeley Downtown Development Authority and founding member of the Greeley Creative District, “we’ve heard from hundreds of residents who are ready to sign — and now they can. This is about protecting taxpayers, our budget, our future and our community’s voice.”
Helping lead the signature-gathering effort is Mary Monahan, who spoke against the financing plan at City Council meetings.
“We’re excited to meet our neighbors at the Stampede and throughout the community to explain why this deal puts our city and fellow citizens at unnecessary risk,” Monahan said in the news release. “If you care about transparency, fiscal responsibility and fairness, sign the petition and join us.”
The group will need to get signatures “equal to 10% of the total vote cast in the last general election” to qualify for the Nov. 4 ballot, according to the city’s code. Kim Kappel, the city’s communications manager and public information officer, told BizWest late Thursday that “the petition must be signed by 4,586 valid signatures of registered Greeley voters.”
The campaign has until Aug. 6 to collect the required signatures. The group is asking community members interested in volunteering to help collect signatures to sign up at the campaign’s website, greeleydeservesbetter.com.
The Greeley Deserves Better group's original website was purchased by a team led by Cascadia developer Martin Lind.
