On Sept. 20, the Boulder City Council will be voting on advancing a project that may violate Boulder's most important planning principle: limiting sprawl. Palmos Development is seeking to annex a parcel of planning reserve land at 28th Street and Jay Road to build a large shopping center on the edge of town. In order to begin the process, a work plan for a service expansion study is required.

PLAN-Boulder County is a grassroots citizens group that since 1959 has advocated reasonable and cautious land use, growth, environmental, and transportation policies. The policies we have supported over the decades have had widespread public support and have contributed to the high quality of life we all enjoy today. We urge council to vote against proceeding with the service expansion study.

On Aug. 25, the Boulder Planning Board upheld Boulder's long tradition of limiting sprawl and creating a compact well-functioning city by voting 6 to 1 against initiating a service-area expansion study. However, the Planning Board's decision is not binding on council.

In addition to our city's policies of sound land-use and urban planning, we would like to cite these additional reasons why the proposed study is unacceptable.

1. It will impact other important retail projects. Over the past several years, both the city government and community have spent considerable time and money planning and, in some cases, approving new retail centers at locations such as 29th Street, the Transit Village and North Boulder. Additional retail likely will develop in the areas immediately surrounding these centers. It is in everyone's best interest that these projects succeed. Developing too much retail capacity too quickly could lead to some projects failing. The city-funded retail strategy report admitted that a portion of the retail sales generated by a big box retailer in the Planning Reserve would cannibalize existing merchants. It is also noteworthy that the business community is divided on the issue of big box development in Boulder.

2. It would set a precedent for inappropriate development at the city's northern entrance. Development of the 23-acre site at 28th and Jay would make it easier for other developers to justify and seek approval to build within the entire Planning Reserve. This could potentially encourage the creation of a strip of commercial uses in this corridor, creating an ugly entrance into Boulder, rife with signs, parking lots, and quickly constructed buildings of limited architectural style or quality.

3. It would produce significant off-site costs to the public that will offset additional sales-tax revenue. A recent Retail Strategy report by a Denver consultant anticipated additional sales-tax revenue from the Palmos project, but failed to take into consideration the high costs to the public for substantial off-site infrastructure improvements needed to service development in this location.

   The site is adjacent to two busy roads that have proven dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists. There are no sidewalks or bicycle lanes along 28th Street (nor is there any bus service, or any being planned). Since most shoppers will come in automobiles, traffic congestion on 28th Street and cut-through traffic in quiet adjacent neighborhoods will increase.

   Off-site costs to the public also would include water and sewer line extensions, additional lanes, traffic signals, intersection enlargement, and a new bridge over Four Mile Creek.

4. It would consume limited planning reserve land, which could meet Boulder's long-term future needs. The recent Valmont Butte issue provides evidence of just how difficult it is to find suitable land for necessary community projects like the fire-training facility and biosolids recycling plant. These are projects that provide essential services to the entire community. Need for available land for critical community projects will only grow more intense with time.

We urge Boulder citizens to make their feelings about this project known to members of the City Council before or during their meeting on Tuesday. The city's long-cherished planning and growth management principles, which have led to the attractive, liveable, and highly desirable city we enjoy today, are at stake. By remaining silent we may allow Palmos Development to initiate sprawl into the Planning Reserve, place already-planned retail development at risk, create off-site public costs, and consume precious land that future Boulder citizens will need for much more vital projects. This is clearly not the right project, the right place nor the right time.