FIRESTONE — A church's controversial commercial and housing development is once again headed for a public vote, this time in a special election.

The Firestone Town Board last week voted to put LifeBridge Christian Church's Union proposal on a special Sept. 30 ballot. But some worry that few residents will show up to vote.

The church is asking Firestone to annex its 340-acre Union parcel into the city limits with plans for 142 acres of homes, 57 acres for religious or civic uses and a 150,000-square-foot sports arena.

LifeBridge approached Longmont in 2006 with the same proposal, but a public outcry over such a huge church-sponsored development prompted LifeBridge to go to Firestone with its idea.

Firestone board members opted against putting the Union question before voters in November, fearing such a big local issue would be glossed over in the middle of a huge presidential ballot.

"I guess you'd say we are very disappointed," said Dan Sanger, one of the leaders of InformFirestone, which organized a petition drive that pushed for a public vote. Sanger says LifeBridge should be more forthcoming with information about how the development will affect Fire stone.

Sanger worries most of Firestone's 4,500 registered voters won't bother going to the polls Sept. 30. At the last general election, 3,000 registered voters showed up to cast ballots while the previous city election drew only 700, Sanger said.

"I'm concerned that most people are going to assume this will be on the general election ballot, and they will wake up on Oct. 1 and say 'Uh oh, the election was yesterday,' " said Sanger.

Wendy Richards, a member of the Firestone planning commission, said recently that voting against the proposal would cost the town millions in lost development impact fees and commercial tax revenues.

"That's a significant negative impact on Firestone's future," Richards said.