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CITY COUNCIL VOTES TO STUDY AREA III OPTIONS TO BOLSTER ECONOMY
On a 7-2 vote, on September 20, 2005, the Boulder City Council directed staff to initiate a study of land use options in the Area III planning reserve to evaluate whether land should be annexed and zoned to support the city’s economic vitality strategy. In August, the city’s Planning Board voted 6-1 against studying Area III development for at least five years. The planning reserve is an approximately 450-acre area north of Jay Road and east of U.S. 36/28th Street designated in the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan as suitable for future development, assumed to be at least 15 years in the future. The approved motion, offered by Councilman Andy Schultheiss, also calls for a thorough evaluation of big-box retail sites within the current city limits and requires identification of large format retailers acceptable to residents. The action and study is being prompted by a request by the Palmos Development Co. to annex a 28-acre parcel at 28th and Jay for location of a bi-box retailer, housing and an outdoor civic space. The initial study will not consider whether to grant the Palmos request, however, the subject parcel will be part of the study.
CITY AND COUNTY SEEK AGREEMENT ON GUNBARREL DEVELOPMENT
More than a year of disagreement over building heights in a proposed Gunbarrel Town Center project may be coming closer to agreement. Boulder County Commissioners have been steadfast in efforts to block four story buildings in the proposed development, even though they do not have veto authority over the plans. Yet, City Council has been reluctant to approve the largely retail project over county objections. County officials want city leaders to grant them equal say on the four story elements of the plan but a motion to grant that failed on a tied vote of City Council. Council Member, Shaun McGrath offered a compromise that passed on a 7-1 vote to develop an agreement on guidelines for buildings involving fourth story elements in Gunbarrel. While the agreement will not give the county veto authority, it will limit City Council approval to projects that meet the conditions outlined in the guidelines. The guideline agreement should be developed and adopted before year’s end
TRANSIT VILLAGE AREA PLAN ENVISIONS AN URBAN RETAIL CORE
Three Transit Village Area Plan workshops were held in August and September, concluding with a visioning session on September 16. At that session, four local architectural firms shared their concept plans for each of four distinct areas within the 450-acre planning area. The 11-acre Pollard property is the hub of the transit village and will be the site of a bus and commuter rail station and loading platforms. The entire area is bounded on the west by 28th Street (not including the 29th Street development), on the south just south of Arapahoe Ave., on the east by 47th Street, and on the north by Valmont Blvd. The area is slated to be predominantly missed uses configured to favor pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users. Auto based travel is incorporated but is the least favored. Nearly 90 citizens participated in the visioning workshop and provided a wide range of opinions about their desired future for the area. The architectural teams will factor that input and will present revised concept plans at a 6:30PM meeting on October 17, 2005 at the West Senior Center, 909 Arapahoe Ave. The area plan is scheduled for completing in late summer 2006.
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