A judge has determined that the Castle Pines City Council did not overstep its authority when it stopped a developer from building a McDonald’s in that upscale bedroom community.
“Because the council had competent evidence to support denying the site improvement plan, the court affirms the council’s decision,” Judge Stacy Guillon ruled Monday.
An unusual amount of debate has gone into whether to allow golden arches at Castle Pines Parkway and Lagae Road. That came to a head in May 2024, when the council held a public meeting and voted. “No clown in our town!” chanted residents of the southern suburb.
One hundred people attended the council meeting and two dozen spoke about the proposed fast food stop. In a 5-2 vote just after midnight, the McDonald’s was rejected.
A month later, the Castle Pines City Council was sued by Ventana Capital, the Englewood firm that owns the land where the McDonald’s would go. Ventana said the council invented “nebulous bases” for denying its proposal, such as traffic and a lack of outdoor seating, to disguise its actual, arbitrary reasoning: It doesn’t like McDonald’s.
But after a year of litigation, Guillon sided with the city and upheld its council’s decision.
“The law makes clear that this court is not to second guess whether the city council acted wisely or in its constituents’ best interest; the court may reverse only if the city council had no competent evidence whatsoever to support the decision it made,” the judge wrote.
Guillon rejected the developer’s argument that because city code allows for fast food in that part of town, the council had no right to deny the McDonald’s. The judge said such thinking would mean “raucous nightclubs” must be allowed where “mellow cocktail lounges” are.
“The court is not persuaded that the law requires shackling the council in this way,” she wrote.
Ventana said it is “disappointed” Guillon did not overturn the council’s decision to “cave to a vocal minority of voices and their desire for a different brand of restaurant instead of a McDonald’s.” The developer is weighing its options, including a possible appeal.
“The city council should not be permitted to hide behind, as the court aptly noted, factors that ‘are inherently subjective,’” Ventana said. “The city’s residents deserve not only the significant tax benefits that a McDonald’s would bring but also additional restaurant choices.”
The ruling is a win not only for the city government but for outspoken homeowners there.
“We feel vindicated in the sense that our city government has protected the property rights of quite a few homeowners who abut this area and would have had to deal with the traffic, and protected the school children who also would have been impacted,” Doug Gilbert, president of the Castle Pines North Homeowners Association, told BusinessDen this week.
City Manager Michael Penny said he is pleased the judge gave “appropriate deference” to the council. “The city remains hopeful that future development along the Castle Pines Parkway corridor will develop in a way that best meets the needs of the community,” he added.
Ventana’s attorneys are Carolynne White, David Meschke, Maxwell Porteus and Alexander Jack at Brownstein. Castle Pines’ are Josh Marks and Geoff Klingsporn with Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti. Jonah Hunt and Marcus Wile at Orten Cavanagh Holmes & Hunt represent the HOA.
