Northern Colorado sports and entertainment hub’s future heads to district court

Only two days after a hearing officer ruled that the city of Greeley’s plans for a new entertainment and business district could move forward, those opposed to the project are asking the district court to intervene. The “Cascadia” project, which would build a new stadium for the Colorado Eagles hockey team as well as a hotel, waterpark and more, was approved by Greeley City Council in early 2025.

Following the approval by the city council, a group of petitioners formed and collected thousands of signatures in an effort to try and take the project to a vote. Those opposed to the project said they were hoping voters would be able to decide whether city-owned buildings should be leveraged to help fund the project, or if taxpayer dollars should go toward helping build the infrastructure.

While the group gathered enough signatures to take the measure to a vote in November, a separate group of people who are in favor of the project then protested the petition. That meant they wanted a hearing officer to decide whether or not the city council’s decision could be repealed by the voters.

The hearing officer, Karen Goldman, had five days to make a decision. On Sunday, she ruled the petitioners did not have the right to try and repeal the council’s decision, deciding the action by council was administrative in nature and not legislative.

“I was certainly pleased,” said Christopher Beall, the lawyer who represented those who protested the petition. “The hearing officer ruled the proposed ballot measure that the petitioners want to put on the ballot cannot be put on the ballot. The Colorado state constitution limits the kinds of things that can be put on voter initiative ballots, and this is not one of them.”

While the council acted in a way that was legislative before making a decision, including holding public comment and more, Beall successfully argued that the council had the legal right to make administrative decisions such as the one around Cascadia.

Beall compared the decision to approve the funding for Cascadia to that of the hiring and firing of a police chief. Beall noted that the voters do not have the authority to vote on a hiring of firing of a chief, but the city council can be given such a responsibility.

“Voters don’t just get the power to enact administrative measures by initiative,” Beall said. “That is what their representatives are elected to do.”

CBS Colorado requested interview from the team representing the petitioners by email and phone for this report. As of publication, those requests had not been returned.

However, in a statement issued late in the afternoon Tuesday, those who petitioned said they were looking forward to arguing this case before a district court judge.

“The Greeley Deserves Better campaign has filed its appeal in District Court to overturn a city-appointed municipal hearing officer’s decision that would silence over 5,500 voters who want a say over Ordinance 2025-15,” the statement from “Greeley Deserves Better” read in-part. “Ordinance 2025-15 authorizes mortgaging nearly all of the City of Greeley’s buildings to build an entertainment complex and minor league hockey ice arena, up to $115 million in debt. The plaintiffs are requesting that the District Court allow the petition to proceed to ballot.”

The statement went on to say the group has requested an expedited hearing, citing the approaching deadline for measures to make it on the November ballot.

“…This decision has denied the petitioners their constitutional right to access the ballot, and it’s critical to stand up for what is right in this situation. Voters have a sacred right to challenge the city’s decisions,” attorney Suzanne Taheri said in the statement.

Beall said he hopes to be involved in the district court hearing that is pending, saying he believes his viewpoint is in the right.

“So we are going to end up doing this all over again in front of the district court judge,” Beall said.