Nearly 60 percent of voters in Denver, Colo. recently said no to a ballot issue (Referred Question 20) that would’ve lifted a conservation easement to allow for commercial, residential and parks and open space development at the former Park Hill Golf Course. Westside Investment Partners still owns the 155-acre site and the property in the immediate future will return to its use as an 18-hole golf course. Yes on 2O Campaign spokesperson Bill Rigler says Westside and its development partners, The Holleran Group, will know in the coming weeks more details on what their future plans are for the site.

After Denver, Colo. voters decided against development plans at the former Park Hill Golf Course, the owner of the 155-acre site plans to return it to a golf course, the Denver Business Journal reported.

Results from Denver’s election April 4 show that voters soundly said no to Referred Question 2O regarding the lifting of a conservation easement at the former Park Hill Golf Course, allowing for commercial, residential and parks and open space development there. Election results as of 2 p.m. April 5 show 59.76% of voters said no to the ballot measure, while 40.24% said yes, the Denver Business Journal reported.

The election follows Denver’s decision to pass Ordinance 301 in 2021, which would require a citywide vote when lifting conservation easements, the Denver Business Journal reported.

“For the second time since November of 2021, the citizens of Denver have voted in decisive fashion on the future of the conservation easement,” treasurer for the No on 2O initiative Harry Doby said in a statement. “We were outspent 9-1 but the voters were not fooled by the false narrative that the land had to remain a golf course. Now, we look forward to the future of this land in working with a new administration. The possibilities are endless.”

Glendale-based Westside Investment Partners still owns the land, having purchased the former Park Hill Golf Course in 2019 for $24 million, the Denver Business Journal reported. In the immediate future, the site will return to its use as an 18-hole golf course, and will be immediately closed to public access, according to the concession statement from the Yes on 2O campaign.

“Park Hill Golf Course will forever be a case study in missed opportunities,” Yes on 2O Campaign spokesperson Bill Rigler said. “Denver is in the midst of its most severe housing shortage in its history and this vote created the opportunity for every voter to play a role in helping to solve that crisis.”

Westside had planned on building a commercial and residential development on the property while keeping a majority of the land as parks and open space, the Denver Business Journal reported. The developer was in a legally binding agreement with the city and county of Denver regarding its commitments to build affordable housing at the site as well, among other requirements.

Rigler said developers Westside and its development partners The Holleran Group will know in the coming weeks more details on what their future plans are for the site, but said it was “very doubtful” that Westside would sell, the Denver Business Journal reported. He also said it was never the developers’ intention to turn the site back into a golf course.

“The easement is unambiguous,” Rigler said. “By law it can only be a golf course and a driving range. And so what that means is no housing. It means no parks. It means no open space and it means no plan for a grocery store.”

Since Denver City Council voted in January to rezone the land to allow for commercial and residential development, the land will now need to be rezoned back to allow for use as a golf course, the Denver Business Journal reported.

Rigler also said that the land could not be taken by eminent domain, as the conservation easement on the land does not allow for that to happen.

Westside said in a statement last week that if voters rejected the ballot measure, it would consider every allowable use under the conservation easement, including bringing a golf facility like Topgolf, the Denver Business Journal reported.

Westside’s principal Kenneth Ho was not immediately available for comment.