Lafayette City Council Meeting – June 2, 2026: Cemetery Subcommittee, Willoughby PUD, Proclamations
Lafayette City Council Meeting – June 2, 2026
The June 2, 2026 Lafayette City Council meeting began with the unanimous formation of a cemetery subcommittee (Mayor Tapia Vega and Councilor Boulier) to study the future of the Lafayette Cemetery and address community concerns over a proposed moratorium on casket burials. Public comments dominated the evening, with nearly 20 speakers expressing emotional opposition to any restrictions, demanding plot-owner rights, and criticizing city communication. The council also held a public hearing on a sketch plan amendment for the Willoughby Corner PUD (phases 2 and 3), receiving substantial public testimony on housing mix, height, and outreach. Three proclamations were passed (Pride Month, Gun Violence Awareness Day, Elder Abuse Awareness Day), and Ordinance 10-2026 adopting the 2025 Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code was approved on second reading. An update on the inclusionary housing ordinance was presented with no action taken.
Consent Calendar
- Approved unanimously (motion, second, all ayes): Consent agenda items B through G, including May 5, 2026 meeting minutes, supplemental budget appropriation (second reading), IGA with Boulder County for youth corps services, IGA with Louisville Fire Protection District for equipment sharing, IGA for Proposition 123 regional collaboration, and a contract with Davis Partnership Associates for Bob Burger Recreation Center design services.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Cemetery (majority of speakers): Frank Archuletta urged council to reject Resolution 2613 (moratorium on casket burials) and argued the city failed to record burials as required by state law. Gertrude Garcia (91 years old) emotionally demanded the right to be buried in a casket next to her husband of 65 years. Ernest Garcia, Derek Garcia, Chris Stondelinger, Ashley Garcia, Mike Baronick, Susan Hudson, Kathy Erickson, Sharon Stetson, Alan Garcia, James Ortega, Beverly Smith, Jill Ortega, and Tony Munoz all expressed opposition to the proposed no-casket-burial policy, citing plot-owner deeds, religious objections (Catholic), lack of notice, stress, and the need for site-specific ground-penetrating radar data. Several speakers thanked the council for forming the subcommittee but requested meaningful community involvement in the June 10 dialogue.
- Oil and gas wells (Peak to Peak Charter School): Christian van Wittenberg (data analyst, former Erie councilmember), Rhea Trivetti (15-year-old student), and Rylan Newman (Classrooms for Climate Action) urged the council to encourage Extraction Oil & Gas to plug marginal wells near the school, presenting letters from 40 ninth-grade students. They cited health risks from methane and VOCs.
- Willoughby Corner PUD amendment: Vicky Euland (ELAC member), Tony Munoz, Christy Walsh, and Karen Rayforth criticized the lack of community outreach (especially to ELAC), the elimination of townhomes/duplexes, increased building heights, reduced setbacks, and what they called a “bait and switch” from the original approved plan. They asked council to push back on the changes or require more robust public input.
- Proclamations support: Karen Rayforth spoke in support of the LGBTQ+ Pride proclamation, noting attacks on trans rights. Vicky Euland offered suggestions for cemetery communication and praised the subcommittee.
Discussion Items
- Cemetery Subcommittee Formation: Mayor Tapia Vega and Councilor Boulier explained the need for a dedicated subcommittee to understand cemetery issues after the council heard public opposition to a prior consultant’s recommendation. They announced a community dialogue on June 10 (6:30–8 p.m. at the Lafayette Public Library) with professional facilitators. Councilor Gianola clarified that closing the cemetery is not on any agenda. The motion to form the subcommittee and appoint the Mayor and Councilor Boulier passed unanimously.
- Willoughby Corner PUD Sketch Plan Amendment (Item H): Staff and BCHA presented a revised plan for phases 2 and 3, replacing all townhomes and duplexes with 73 single-family detached homes (for-sale, 60–100% AMI), 104 multifamily rental units (deeply affordable, averaging 55% AMI), and 32 neuroinclusive units for IDD populations (averaging 48% AMI). Changes were driven by utility constraints, geothermal feasibility, and the desire to add neuroinclusive housing. Council questions focused on housing diversity, building heights (three stories/45 feet), setbacks (8 feet on Emma Street vs. 15 feet originally), parking, and community outreach. Public testimony criticized the reduced outreach (no ELAC notification). Council comments varied: some praised the affordable homeownership and neuroinclusive components; others expressed concern over the loss of middle housing and requested better community engagement and more green space. No vote was taken; the item was for sketch plan feedback only.
- Inclusionary Housing Ordinance Update: Consultant Molly Pitts Fitzpatrick presented preliminary recommendations for a new inclusionary housing ordinance, proposing a 12% set-aside of units (at 50% AMI for rentals, 100% attached for-sale, 120% detached for-sale) and compliance options including fee-in-lieu. She noted that final feasibility analysis is pending (with EPS). The council discussed timing, market feasibility, and the preference for developer-built units over cash. No action was taken; further updates are expected in August/September.
Key Outcomes
- Cemetery subcommittee formed (2-0 vote, unanimous): Mayor Tapia Vega and Councilor Boulier appointed; public dialogue set for June 10, 2026 at the library.
- Proclamations passed (unanimous): Pride Month (June 2026), National Gun Violence Awareness Day (June 5, 2026), and World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (June 15, 2026).
- Ordinance 10-2026 adopted (unanimous): Second reading approving the 2025 Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code by reference, applicable to medium-intensity wildfire zones in western Lafayette (about 84 acres) and future annexed areas.
- Willoughby PUD sketch plan: Council provided non-binding feedback; no formal decision. Staff and applicant to consider comments and potentially adjust design before preliminary plan.
- Inclusionary housing: Further analysis and combined fee/ordinance proposal expected in late summer 2026.
Meeting Transcript
Clerk Between please get a roll call. Mayor Tapia Vega? Here. Mayor Pro Tem Barnes. Good evening. Counselor Bolier. Here. Councilor Friedland. Councilor Gallegos. Good evening. Councillor Gianola. Here. And Councilor Jensen. Here. Mayor, we have a call. Thank you. Mayor, I move to excuse Councilor Friedman. We have a motion to excuse Councillor Fridland. Second. Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed say no? None opposed. That passes unanimously. Great. Thank you all for joining us tonight for being here. In a typical city council meeting, this is the time when we typically go to public input and we give you the chance to speak to us. We will get right to that, I promise, but we're changing things tonight just ever so slightly. As a council, we believe that there was something we need to address up front and just make sure everyone gets a chance to hear it. So there's only one quick agenda item before we move on to public input, and that is agenda item A under council appointments, which is the confirmation of the cemetery subcommittee. Uh and I don't know what that decision will look like. And I don't know when that decision will come. But I think everyone agrees that at some point in the future, whether that's the near future or decades from now, there will have to be a decision made about our cemetery. Um there was a lot of work already done on this, and I do want to uh shout out our staff um because there has been years of work going into this, and there has been plenty of consultants and analysis and studies done around the cemetery and recommendations brought forth uh and even a recommendation that came before this very council uh about a month back. But the one thing that was made clear was from our community, from you all, that that was not the answer at that time. And being that we are representatives of this city and being that we are people who want to do the best for our city and want to stand by our residents. At the time, we heard you and we continue to hear you, and we appreciate you coming to us and letting us know. And the most beautiful thing to me is the fact that that is still the form of government we have. It's a form of government where people get to speak and their voices are heard, and our representatives, being us in this case, get to act upon the wishes of our people. So thank you for making your voice heard. The conversations continued as weeks went on, and of course, uh hearing you all come to our city council meetings made an impact, a great impact upon every single one of us. And in having those conversations and speaking to residents, I know most of members of this council, including myself, walk the cemetery with Mr. Archaletta. We want to understand exactly what it is that's going on in our cemetery. We want to have a good sense of understanding before any decisions are made. And in doing so, our city manager had an what I think is an incredible idea, which is a subcommittee. Uh a subcommittee is a small committee of a couple counselors, in this case it will be two counselors, who are tasked with simply understanding the issue, and ultimately at some point when we feel like we have what we need and we feel we've engaged enough and we've heard enough and we've learned enough, we will come with a recommendation to the rest of council. Uh we do this a lot. Currently there is a vacancy on our planning commission, and there's three counselors that will take on a subcommittee to interview the applicants and then bring a recommendation towards city council. So it's it's a pretty regular thing, but in this case we wanted it to be specific about the cemetery.
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