Loveland City Council gives preliminary nod to new ward map

It’s not quite official yet, but the city of Loveland’s election wards are changing shape. On Tuesday, Loveland City Council made its final selection from six options for new maps, in preparation for a formal vote on March 14.

Emerging from the pack was the so-called Option 3, which was described by City Clerk Delynn Coldiron as the “least disruptive.” Among the six options considered, this map moves the fewest residents into a new ward and keeps the boundaries contiguous.

Led by Coldiron and city GIS Manager Brent Speegle, the city started its latest redistricting effort late last year, prompted by population growth and updates to Larimer County’s election precincts. In order to coordinate elections with the county, Loveland’s ward boundaries must be in alignment.

Over the months, Coldiron and her team drafted a total of five maps for consideration, and a sixth was submitted by a Loveland resident for consideration.

Like all of the scenarios, Option 3 corrects the imbalance between ward populations, which is currently at 8.5%. When complete, the difference between the largest and smallest wards will be around 2%.

This option also keeps the “old Hewlett-packard” neighborhoods near Taft Avenue and 14th Street Southwest in the same ward, an important consideration for Councilors John Fogle and Steve Olson.

Though the least disruptive, the new map selected by council will move 13,145 residents into a new ward, for a disruption rate of 16%. Most of them will be from wards 1 and 4, which will be losing close to 9,000 current residents. At the same time, around 4,400 residents will be moved into those wards.

By comparison, Option 4, which was championed by Mayor Jacki Marsh, had a 27% disruption rate, with more than 22,000 residents impacted.

According to Coldiron, Option 3 will also work for the city when future development is accounted for. With most growth expected in the north and east sectors of Loveland, this option leaves room for more residents in Wards 1 and 4 without creating future imbalance and triggering another redistricting effort.

Council will take its first formal vote on the new ward configurations next week, and the final vote on April 4. Coldiron said that impacted residents will be mailed a notice with their new ward information, and there will also be information about the change on the city’s Let’s Talk Loveland website and social media.

For more information on the city of Loveland’s ward boundaries, visit www.letstalkloveland. org/redistricting.