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PLAN-Boulder CountyThe Boulder County Peoples Advocate Oct. 1, 2005Boulder County public affairs news and analysis |
In this issue
Boulder Council Keeps Palmos Project Alive
At its September 20 meeting the Boulder City Council passed a resolution that keeps the proposed Palmos "big box" retail center at 28th Street and Jay Road open for consideration. To develop the center in the Planning Reserve, Palmos Development must get approval from the City Council, Boulder Planning Board, Boulder County Commissioners and the Boulder County Planning Commission.
Numerous civic and environmental groups, including PLAN-Boulder County, the Sierra Club and Walk Boulder, opposed allowing development in the Planning Reserve. The Boulder Planning Board voted 6 to 1 against the project but City Council, on a 7 to 2 vote, overruled the Planning Board and directed staff to initiate the process necessary to allow sprawl into the Planning Reserve.
Councilman Andy Schultheiss was the author of a last-minute motion, not seen until the night of the meeting by some of his council colleagues or citizens who testified during the public participation part of the meeting. The Schultheiss motion, which follows, keeps the Palmos project open as an alternative and "doesn't shut the door" to development of a "big box" store in the Planning Reserve:
Minutes for the September 20 Council meeting will be available after October 18.
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PLAN-Boulder County Endorses Cowles, McGrath, Pearson
Three candidates for Boulder City Council, including one incumbent, were endorsed by PLAN-Boulder County. Councilman Shaun McGrath received an endorsement, as did challengers Macon Cowles and Eugene Pearson. Boulder voters will fill five council seats in November; four incumbents, including McGrath, are seeking reelection. Cowles is chair of the Boulder Planning Board. Pearson has been active in the University of Colorado student government and with local and campus environmental issues.
More information:
CowlesPLAN-Boulder County also recommended that voters pass Boulder County Issue 1-A (retention of excess revenues for social and emergency services) and state referenda C and D, intended to temporarily correct the state's financial problems caused by TABOR and to fund infrastructure costs.
McGrath
Pearson
CU Environmental Awards, Brower Youth Awards
More information:
Yes on 1A
1A: De-Brucing Boulder County and Nederland Library; Boulder County Term Limits
Yes on C &D
State Referendum C
State Referendum D
Colorado's TABOR - to be adopted in Ohio?
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Sierra Club Endorses Council Candidates
The Indian Peaks Group of the Sierra Club endorsed four candidates for Boulder City Council. Incumbents endorsed by the environmental group were Shaun McGrath and Andy Schultheiss. The Sierra Club also endorsed newcomer candidates Macon Cowles and Eugene Pearson.
On Boulder County and statewide ballot questions, the Sierra Club endorsed the Superior open space issue 2A, Boulder County Issue 1-A and state referenda C and D.
More information:
Sierra Club - Indian Peaks Group
Town of Superior - August Newsletter
Superior Ballot Issue 2A
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Transit Village Planning Continues
Boulder planners conducted a series of public meetings during September regarding the area plan for the future Transit Village at 30th and Pearl Streets. The final meeting in the series will be held on October 17 at which time staff will reveal one or more concept plans for the area generally bounded by 28th Street, Valmont Road, Foothills Parkway and Marine Street. The general guidance for the area plan, provided by the Boulder City Council and Boulder Planning Board, is to encourage transit-oriented development within walking distance of the future RTD commuter rail station.
While the public meetings have attracted a fair number of interested citizens much of the discussion has been staff-driven. Speakers, for example, discussed national and state economic and demographic trends with little application to Boulder. Several California speakers also supported the transit-oriented development concept and used examples from the San Francisco Bay area to justify the use of such a concept in Boulder.
Once a preferred concept plan is prepared by staff it will be submitted to the Boulder Planning Board and Boulder City Council, probably in 2006. RTD commuter rail service between Boulder and downtown Denver is scheduled to begin in 2014.
Boulder Transit Village Area Plan
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Public Hearing Schedules on County Land Use Code Update
Boulder County commissioners will hold a public hearing on Monday, October 10, to obtain comments on the update project for the county's land use code. At the meeting county staff will make a presentation on the status of the update and on prioritization of issues identified for inclusion. The hearing will start at 6PM in the commissioners' hearing room at the Boulder County Courthouse.
Land Use Code Update - Input Wanted!
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County Ballot Issue Supported by Boulder Council
The Boulder City Council endorsed Boulder County Issue 1-A on the November ballot. The county is seeking voter approval to permanently exempt excess county revenues from the provisions of the so-called Colorado TABOR amendment. All of the council members supported the issue at the September 20 meeting except for Gordon Riggle who voted against the motion.
Minutes for the September 20 Council meeting will be available on line after October 18.
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Preserve Louisville Endorses Council Candidates
Preserve Louisville, a citizen organization that supports preserving the small town character of Louisville, endorsed three candidates for City Council. In Ward 1 Bob Muckle was endorsed. In Ward 2 Preserve Louisville is supporting Frost Yarnell. Ron Sackett received Preserve Louisville's endorsement in Ward 3.
More information on Preserve Louisville
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Boulder Council Approves Gunbarrel Compromise
Boulder City Council, at its September 6 meeting, offered Boulder County Commissioners a compromise on development criteria for the Gunbarrel neighborhood community center. The issue of allowing buildings of up to four stories has been controversial among some residents in the Gunbarrel neighborhood off Lookout Road in northeast Boulder. Much of the nearby residential area is outside the City of Boulder, leading county commissioners to get involved against allowing mixed-use buildings of four floors.
Councilman Gordon Riggle offered a motion to authorize staff to draw up an intergovernmental agreement that would require joint city/county approval of development in the Gunbarrel community center based on a quasi-judicial process following jointly approved criteria. The motion was supported by the Gunbarrel Community Association and County Commission chairman Ben Pearlman.
City Council rejected the motion on a four-to-four tie vote. The opposition was led by Councilman Shaun McGrath, who objected to the precedent-setting nature of abrogating the City's authority with no complementary concession from County Commission. Council members voting for Riggle's motion were Bohannon, Riggle, Ruzzin and Schultheiss. Joining McGrath in opposition were Ageton, Eldridge and Gray. Councilman Stoakes was absent.
Riggle offered a second motion that would authorize City staff to draft an agreement that would provide for the joint development by the City and County of criteria for development of four-story buildings in the Gunbarrel community center, but with final approval by the Boulder City Council. That motion passed 7 to 1, with Eldridge opposed and Stoakes absent.
More information:
Minutes for the September 6 Council meeting
Gunbarrel background report from staff
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Lyons Voters Reject Liquor Law Change
In a special election held on September 13, voters in Lyons rejected a change to the application of a state liquor law provision. Currently, state law prohibits the sale of liquor within 500 feet of a school but municipalities may vote to exclude themselves from that provision. The issue in Lyons was supported by some who saw the change as an economic development opportunity for the town. Voters in Lyons rejected the proposal by a 55% to 45% margin.
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Gun Club Gets Access Easement from City Manager
On a 7 to 2 vote the Boulder City Council on September 20 voted to support City Manager Frank Bruno's offer of a ten-year non-exclusive access easement to the Boulder Rifle Club. The property is part of the city's former landfill on 26th Street north of US-36. Council members Ageton, Bohannon, Eldridge, Riggle, Ruzzin, Schultheiss and Stokes backed Bruno's offer even though no quid pro quo was asked of the gun club. Council members Gray and McGrath opposed the offer.
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Erie Landfill Expansion Back on Agenda
Plans to expand the Front Range Landfill in Erie may be back on track. In May the Erie Town Trustees voted to postpone consideration of the 122-acre expansion at Weld County roads 4 and 5 after nearby residents raised numerous environmental and economic issues. Erie town staff subsequently reported that the landfill expansion would have no substantial impact on nearby property values.
If the Town Trustees approve the expansion request the landfill may be as high as 117 feet in some places and operating until 2034. The current landfill is due to be closed in 2026. The item is likely to be on the Trustees' agenda at its September 27 meeting.
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RTD to Hold Public Hearings on 2006 Price Increases
The Regional Transportation District management has proposed a 20 to 30 percent increase to local fares on RTD buses and light rail for 2006. The RTD board has sent the staff proposal out for a series of public hearings with relatively short notice. Fifteen hearings will be held from October 3 to October 13 - one in each district of RTD's 15 elected directors. The fare increase was planned prior to the hurricane-related jump in fuel costs - to cover the large fuel cost increases seen over the summer.
The cash fare for a local trip is to go up 20% from $1.25 to $1.50. The discount local fare (for seniors 65+, individuals with disabilities, Medicare recipients and elementary, middle and high school students, age 6-19) is to rise 25% from $0.60 to $0.75. The monthly teen pass is to rise 31.6% from $19 to $25. The local monthly pass would go up 20% from $45 to $54. The Eco Pass and Neighborhood Pass programs are to go up by 10%. These two programs get a lower increase because they cover both regional and local fares - RTD is not increasing regional fares, feeling that they are already high enough in comparison with other transit agencies.
Changes to some Eco Pass pricing zones are proposed that would double the cost of the program for some employers. Eco Pass contract minimums would go up by 20%. Many Eco Pass employers are asking the RTD board to spread the 10% increase over a two year period because notice is too short to incorporate the increase into 2006 budgets.
The hearing for District O (Boulder, Louisville, Lyons, Nederland, Superior and Ward) will be held in Boulder at the West Senior Center, Creek side Room, 909 Arapahoe Ave. at 6:00 PM on October 5.
E-mail Director McLean
The District I hearing (Longmont, Lafayette and Broomfield) will also be held at 6:00 PM on October 5 - in Broomfield at the Broomfield Community Center, Lakeshore Rooms II and III at 280 Lamar Street.
E-mail Director Kemp
Contact information on all RTD directors
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The Boulder County Peoples Advocate is published monthly by PLAN-Boulder County and distributed free to persons interested in local public affairs issues. This electronic newsletter is intended to provide timely and insightful Boulder County public affairs news and analysis. PLAN-Boulder County (PBC) is a citizens' organization that works to ensure that governmental policies in Boulder County and its municipalities be sensitive to all environmental issues. PBC seeks to promote, through education, political action, and encouragement of public involvement, a far-sighted and imaginative pattern of land use so that the area may retain its individual character and remain an attractive place to live. We hope you find this second issue of the Peoples Advocate interesting and informative. Please feel free to forward this to anyone you feel would appreciate it. If you are not currently subscribed to the PBC programs list and wish to receive this newsletter on approximately a monthly basis, please e-mail David Cook and simply ask to be added to PLAN-Boulder County's programs list. In addition to the Peoples Advocate you will receive e-mail notices of PLAN-Boulder County's twice-monthly Friday Noon Forums.
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