I know on the Trilogy sites users need to have over 10k rep to vote to close questions but maybe there should be a lower cap on new StackExchange sites that have less users and less rep. Maybe based off of some steps or a a % until enough people hit 10k rep.
For example, right now on WebApps, the highest Rep user is still under 1500 rep. That means if we assume a flat rate of growth (probably not accurate), it will be another 40 days before even 1 user hits 10k rep. Couldn't there be some system like this:
- Under 250 questions - You need 500 Rep to vote to close
- Under 500 questions - You need 1000 Rep to vote to close
- Under 1000 questions - You need 5000 Rep to vote to close
- Over 2000 questions - You need 10,000 Rep to vote to close
*Note I don't know the Rep levels per number of questions and votes in existence so this would just be a guess.
I know it would make things more complex and maybe it has been discussed elsewhere but for new site this is going to be a common issue until it gets solved.