Opinion ID: 162002
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Save Palisade FruitLands

Text: 9 Mesa County, Colorado is a statutory county situated on the border of Colorado and Utah. It contains several cities, including Palisade, Fruita, and the largest city in the county, Grand Junction. It is famous for its fruit production, especially in the eastern areas of the county. Land use in the county is governed by the Mesa County Planning Commission, which adopts land codes governing zoning and the divisibility of property. 10 Appellant Save Palisade FruitLands (Save Palisade) is an unincorporated nonprofit association comprised of registered voters in Mesa County. Appellants Harry Talbott and Allen Williams are peach growers, and Galen Wallace is a viticulturist. All three are members of Save Palisade. 3 Throughout the 1990s, they and other farmers tried to halt the encroachment of residential subdivisions in Mesa County by attempting to place greater restrictions upon the ability of landowners to subdivide their property. After years of having their efforts rejected, and after several contentious public meetings debating the utility of such measures, Save Palisade and various farmers attempted to place a measure on the Mesa County ballot that would restrict the ability of landowners to subdivide their land. On November 16, 1999, Monika Todd, the Mesa County Clerk, refused to place the proposed initiative on the ballot. Todd indicated that she could find no authorization for countywide initiatives in a statutory county such as Mesa County. 11 Save Palisade then brought suit against Todd and the Board of County Commissioners of Mesa County in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. The court granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment shortly after the Colorado Court of Appeals issued its ruling in Dellinger v. Board of County Commissioners, 20 P.3d 1234, 1237-38 (Colo.Ct.App.2000), which held that the Colorado Constitution did not authorize the electors of statutory counties to initiate legislation. Save Palisade then sought to have the measure certified as a statewide ballot initiative. On December 6, 2000, the Ballot Title Setting Board determined that the measure was not a statewide measure, and it therefore refused to place the initiative on the ballot. 12 Appellants then brought this appeal, claiming that by granting the power of initiative to the electors of home rule counties but not to those of statutory counties, the Colorado courts denied the electors of statutory counties the equal protection of the laws.