New options for redistricting

Performance review of municipal judge and transportation appropriation also on agenda

With city elections coming up in November, the pressure is on to complete the update to Loveland’s ward boundaries. On Tuesday, City Council will devote a study session to discussing five potential options for a new city map, including one created by a resident.

But first, council will convene a special meeting to hold a performance review for Municipal Judge Geri Joneson that could include an executive session. Council

will also vote on a supplemental budget appropriation for grant funding that will help pay for renovations to the city’s transit center.

Redistricting

For just the seventh time since 1966, the city of Loveland will be adjusting its ward boundaries in 2023, to comply with state and national election laws.

But it won’t be easy. According to City Clerk Delynn Coldiron, this year’s process is complicated by several factors, including new Larimer County voting precincts, which influence the shape of Loveland’s wards.

Other considerations include keeping populations balanced among the wards, keeping council members in the wards they were elected to, and keeping wards contiguous.

Coldiron’s team is also trying to anticipate future growth in the city, so the ward populations will remain balanced for years to come.

With all of that in mind, she and her team have devised five options for consideration, two of which City Council reviewed at a study session in October.

Based on feedback from that conversation, Coldiron’s team added two more options, which were presented at public meetings in December and January.

Now a fifth option has been added, to be unveiled on Tuesday.

According to Coldiron, in all but one of the options, there is a 2% deviation between ward populations. Option 1 is the most contiguous and would cause the least disruption in terms of people being moved.

Option 2 is the most balanced, but Wards 1 and 4 would lose their downtown neighborhoods. option 3 displaces the fewest residents, and retains neighborhoods near the Forge Campus in Ward 3, a request from Councilors Steve Olson and John Fogle.

Option 4 has the highest population deviation of 4% between Wards 3 and 4. However, this option accounts for future growth in the city. It could also be the most disruptive, with an estimated 22,208 people moving to a new ward.

In the new option, submitted by a resident, downtown Loveland is redrawn entirely into Ward 1, at the expense of future growth at its northern boundaries. This option is also balanced in terms of population, but has a high disruption rate.

Council will be asked to give Coldiron and her team direction on which options should come back to council for formal consideration. She is aiming for April 4 for a first reading and vote.

How to participate

The council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers at the Municipal Building, 500 E. Third St.

Comments from members of the public will be accepted in person as well as over Zoom.

Those wishing to join by Zoom can use the ID 975 3779 6504 with a passcode of 829866, according to the meeting agenda.

The meeting will be broadcast on Comcast Channel 16/880, Pulse TV channel 16 and streamed through the city’s website at lovgov.org/tv.

Tuesday’s agenda packet can be found through the Loveland City Council’s website at lovgov.org.