COLORADO SPRINGS — Thousands of people in Colorado Springs are petitioning for a building height limit downtown. They want to put it to a vote on the November ballot.
Colorado Springs City Council member Brian Risley told me it would likely take 35,000 signatures of registered voters to get on the November ballot.
"There is a lot more to it than what you would typically as a yes or no vote on a ballot," said Risley.
A city spokesperson said signatures would have to be turned into the clerk's office by June 18th for consideration.
This petition started a few weeks ago and has more than 3,600 signatures.
"I would hope it's on the ballot, there's enough people that are very concerned about all the building, everything going on in Colorado Springs," said one petitioner, Bill Wysong, who is also WestSide Watch president.
This comes after developers proposed a potentially 400-foot tall or 36-story apartment building in the heart of the city.
"You know how it goes, someone wants to make one bigger, so instead of 36 stories, the next one will be 41, and all of a sudden, we are downtown Denver and I don't think that's what people want," said Wysong.
The people behind the petition want to cap the height at 247 feet, which is the height of the Wells Fargo building on Cascade Avenue and Colorado. That's currently the tallest building downtown.
"If there's a need for housing if the developers can make the numbers pencil for a building of that magnitude if actually viable and make financial sense, then I think it's worth consideration," said Risley.
A city spokesperson told me city planning has not received a formal application.
"I would hope the residents of Colorado Springs would rely on the folks that they elected to make the decisions like this on their behalf because there are so many nuances," said Risley.
City council is considering a work session in June to talk further about building height restrictions downtown.
According to census data, the population of Colorado Springs has six times as many people as it did in 1960.
WATCH: Growth of Colorado Springs since 1960
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