Boulder

FAR SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS FINDINGS

Although no specific recommendations were made, the City Council FAR (Floor Area Ratio) subcommittee provided a report of their findings, observations and opinions in a November 8, 2007 memo to the Council and City Manager. The Subcommittee was charged with looking into the issue of limiting home size in expansions and new construction. The subcommittee met five times from June to October 2007. Their reviews focused of issues of affordability, environmental sustainability, community character, and unintended consequences of the existing code. The overarching issues defined by the Subcommittee are:

"The biggest problem is scrapes that result in very large and mega spec homes that are out of scale with the existing neighborhood. The definition of what constitutes a 'mega home' is related to both absolute size and relative size compared to lot size and neighborhood content."
"It is very important to retain flexibility for people to alter their homes as their needs change, since many can't afford to move to another house. However, there is a threshold of pops over which these additions can be too much." It is important to provide for appropriate change over time.
"One aspect of the problem is that mega homes are often built as speculative ventures and the developer is trying to maximize profit by building the largest home possible. The high real estate values in our community drive the problem."
"Any solution needs to promote variety as opposed to monotony."
The committee did not define what constitutes a mega-home or 'too big' house,' and also did not discuss potential solutions. However, the committee did indicate that any solution should include education of builders and homeowners as to the impacts of very large additions and new homes."
"FAR alone is not an adequate tool to address the problem. It is a very blunt instrument."
City Council will provide direction to staff on this issue at its January 25-26, 2008 retreat. BARA anticipates a series of meetings, work sessions, etc. prior to recommendations coming forward for public comment and review a bit later in the year.