Boulder

Boulder

OFFICIALS IGNORING ECONOMIC DOWNTURN AND LOCAL IMPACTS

While virtually every community in the metro area is seeking ways to spur economic activity and bolster sagging tax revenue, the City of Boulder appears to be ignoring economic realities and is forging ahead on a number of fronts that will significantly increase the costs borne by residents, businesses, and development. On example of economic incentive activity is the City and County of Denver’s recent action to suspend building permit fees. By contrast, the City of Boulder recently moved ahead with increased development fees and it plans to raise them further in the future. In fact, the city decided to convert certain business/development taxes to fees so they can be raised without voter approval. Home Size Regulations under consideration will produce significant hardship for Boulder families and threatens to erode their already battered home equity and property rights. (More on this below.) The City doubled the two year old Carbon Tax and is moving rapidly toward developing regulation mandating costly energy improvement in homes apartments and commercial buildings. It appears that the 20% inclusionary zoning (IZ) requirement for affordable housing will stay in place. The City is planning to double the in lieu fees to opt out of half the IZ requirement. The increases to as much as $230,000 for single family residences and $220,000 for attached dwellings will be phased in over several years. Business folks are also upset with a proposal to increase the Housing Excise Tax on non-residential development from 49 cents per square foot to $2.50 per square foot, and then increase it annually to adjust for inflation. Finally, Council is actively considering imposing new and/or significantly higher impact fees on development. All this against the backdrop of declining city revenue of $5.4 million this year with larger deficits expected in 2010. This is the same Council that has been asking voters to increase their compensation for the past two years. Many leaders in the community are wondering "What are they thinking?"

PROPOSED HOME SIZE RESTRICTIONS WRONGHEADED AND UNNECESSARY

The time for action to oppose these regulations is NOW.

A group of citizens and homeowners recently organized to fight the home size restriction under the name "Leave My Home Alone!" (Check out their Website at www.leavemyhomealone.org). Sign in to join and make a contribution to help get the message out.) Planning Board will act on these regulations on Thursday, July 9, 2009 beginning at 6PM. City Council could take final action as early as August 4, 2009. REALTORS are urged to provide the talking points below to their clients, customers and distribution lists and ask them to contact Planning Board and City Council directly at: planningboard@bouldercolorado.gov and council@bouldercolorado.gov. Every homeowner in Boulder needs to tell Planning Board and City Council to Leave My Home Alone!

A Solution in Search of a Problem
The proposed Pops and Scrapes regulations are a solution in search of a problem. A majority of Boulder citizens do not believe there is a major problem with residential additions and remodels. The very few examples of "ugly homes" that have been put forth do not warrant such a sweeping and Draconian regulatory response across the entire City.

The Proposed Regulations are Too Extreme and Too Complex
The proposed regulations are extreme, highly complex and a dramatic over-reaction to the perceived problem. If new regulations must be enacted (which is highly questionable), they should be simple, incremental changes to the regulations already in place today. Those simple, incremental changes should then be given adequate time to work and see if they solve the perceived problem before any additional or more restrictive regulations are considered. There is no justification to use a sledge hammer to try to kill a fly.

The Proposed Regulations are Unfair
The proposed regulations would unfairly restrict the right of Boulder citizens to build additions to or remodel their homes and would unfairly decrease property values. The proposed regulations are a "one-size fits all" approach that goes too far and would prohibit many types of appropriate additions and remodels. The proposed regulations would have a disproportionate impact on relatively modest neighborhoods like Martin Acres, Aurora 7, West Highlands and Columbine. If families can’t grow in their homes, they will move elsewhere, thereby exacerbating the loss of families with children in Boulder and the declining enrollment in Boulder's schools.

The Proposed Regulations Will Have Unintended Consequences
Rather than preventing "ugly homes," the proposed regulations would have prohibited many of Boulder's architectural gems and would ensure that all future additions and remodels will be done in a manner that results in a homogenous and architecturally-uninteresting "sameness" across Boulder. The last thing Boulder needs is for the City government to be the de facto HOA for Boulder. Boulder’s middle-income housing affordability problem would be exacerbated because it would no longer be possible for families to purchase smaller, more affordable homes and then grow within them through addition and remodeling. By penalizing citizens who want to build an addition or remodel, the City would greatly reduce the rate at which existing homes are modernized and made more energy-efficient.

City Council is Ignoring the Majority of Boulder's Citizens
The vast majority of Boulder's citizens do not support the proposed regulations or anything like them. City Council has been pursuing its own agenda and that of a very small minority of disgruntled people from a very few select neighborhoods. The process has been unfairly stacked to try to justify the outcome Council announced it wanted to pursue over a year ago. Council has failed to learn from the outpouring of opposition to this effort they received in the spring of 2008, and now they are trying to "put lipstick on the pig" and fool the voters through the City's biased public relations campaign and loaded terminology.