Growth or no growth.

• Author: GEORGE, MARY
• Position: Voters' approval for residential and commercial construction in Colorado - Amendment 24 to Colorado Constitution

VOTERS TO DECIDE IF THEY WANT TO VOTE ON NEW CONSTRUCTION

Also known as Amendment 24 to the Colorado Constitution, the initiative calls for voter approval of most new commercial and residential construction that hasn't been sanctioned before Election Day in all but the smallest Colorado counties and cities.

after Colorado lawmakers dodged growth-control legislation this past spring, citizens acted swiftly and predictably. They solicited petition signatures and placed the Responsible Growth Initiative on the statewide ballot for the Nov. 7 general election.

The new law would require regional planning cooperation and popular votes on master growth plans. And it would demand that elected officials abide by those master plans, which now are non-binding.

Nature photographer John Fielder and a batch of environmental groups are Amendment 24's greatest champions. Development interests oppose it. Each side claims some crossover support.

But opponents of the measure have raised 10 times the money Fielder and his allies have collected to finance their campaigns for and against the law. The National Wildlife Federation is one of the biggest donors to the campaign for 24; home builders are the opposition's largest financiers.

The Colorado Municipal League also is against it, and a number of fast-growing cities are racing to approve new development before voters decide the issue. Debate has already been heated and is expected to get hotter. To shed some light, ColdradoBiz talked with some of the most thoughtful people on each side:

"We're about to cook the golden goose that has attracted all the Sun Microsystems and Level 3s to Colorado," Fielder said. "Unless we have those amenities, those companies won't continue to come here." Nor will tourists who bring $11 billion a year to Colorado cash registers, Fielder added.

As Amendment 24's chief spokesman, Fielder is a magnet for criticism of the proposal. He's learned to deflect it like a professional lobbyist. "There is so much growth in the pipeline, this won't slow it. It'll just redirect it," he said. The measure needs to be in the Constitution, or home-rule governments could trump it. It won't strip elected officials of power. "They still have to take part in the master planning process, like they do now," he said. "In the end, it just goes to a vote of the people."

But doesn't that usurp elected representatives' power? "What's more democratic than an election?" Fielder countered. Is Amendment 24 just...