Lakewood Citizens Demand City Overturn Ordinances Benefiting Wealthy Individuals and Corporations

On Monday January 26, Lakewood City Council will again vote on a controversial new zoning scheme enacted by a council majority that was led by dark-money, developer-funded Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem.

 

This vote—triggered by four historic citizen referendum petitions—will determine whether the Council repeals its radical zoning rewrite or sends it to Lakewood voters for a citywide vote.

 

“Lakewood residents are taking their city back,” said Regina Hopkins, who helped gather signatures for the monumental effort. 

 

“The current Council majority’s radical zoning rewrite, which passed in late 2025 through four separate ordinances, is a blueprint for crammed, profit-driven development, bulldozed trees, and ignored infrastructure. Now the people are saying, “enough. We want a vote.”

 

In just over two months, volunteers collected more than 11,000 signatures, a feat many believed to be insurmountable.

 

“One referendum petition is hard enough,” said Cathy Kentner, community activist and leader of the successful Strategic Growth Initiative in 2019. “I would have thought four to be impossible.”

 

While supporters of the new zoning ordinances claim the changes will address housing affordability and promote sustainability, Hopkins argues city leaders are selling out neighborhoods for short-term development interests.

 

“The truth is bad for their narrative,” Hopkins said. “Hundreds of homes already sit empty. Instead of environmental stewardship, we are allowing the destruction of our natural resources to create a concrete jungle. Developers do not build for affordability—they build for profit. Not one affordable unit is required under these ordinances. It does not have to be this way.”

 

Lakewood’s controversial zoning ordinances were never subjected to the widespread public input and participation typical of previous rezoning efforts.

 

Originally released as a single ordinance in July with a vote scheduled for August, the proposal was later divided into four separate ordinances. Traditional rezoning requires direct notification to each affected property owner. Instead, the Council used a process known as “legislative rezoning,” which does not require specific notice—effectively limiting public awareness and engagement.

 

Opponents argue this procedural shortcut denied residents a meaningful voice in decisions that fundamentally reshape their neighborhoods.

 

Save Belmar Park, inc., a 501 c-3 is dedicated to preservation of our natural habitat. Regina Hopkins is a board member.

People Before Profits is an issue committee filed with the city of Lakewood with the purpose of supporting transparency and opposing corporate take-over. Cathy Kentner is the registered agent.