02.26.15 height ordinance statement
TRANSCRIPT
PO Box 20646 Boulder, CO 80308 Ph: 720-222-9602 Email: [email protected] Web: www.BoulderTomorrow.com Twitter: @bouldertomorrow
The Best Business Ideas Shaping Boulder's Future
February 26, 2015
To: Boulder City Council
Re: Proposed Height Limit Moratorium
Dear Boulder City Councilors,
I urge you to reconsider the height limitation ordinance before you tonight. The community debate over
how Boulder should evolve goes far beyond one characteristic of our built environment; height is a poor
proxy for this more sophisticated discussion. It is impossible to quantify the lost opportunities for
innovative, relevant proposals that could have come forward, although you’ll hear from numerous
people tonight about how this moratorium will negatively affect their personal vision. Their examples
and other valid concerns should cause you to reconsider this sweeping ordinance.
To be clear: broadly denying hundreds of property owners from simply requesting a taller building belies
our current reasonable process. Taller buildings can be enablers of the things we should champion:
upgrades to outdated and inefficient structures, housing for diverse residents, new space for growing
businesses. This moratorium is too blunt a tool.
Specifically, this ordinance works against numerous policy goals and our best interests by:
o Creating areas of virtual stasis, as the economics of redeveloping many shorter building
are not practical.
o Denying the chance for innovative and sensible designs – designs that come forward
with various city goals already in mind, i.e. affordable housing, walkable neighborhoods,
access to alternative transit, etc.
o Relinquishing your role and authority – intentionally sidestepping opportunities to guide
and approve beneficial proposals.
o Instantly increasing the property values within any exemption areas, speeding the
expense of tenancy and future innovative development.
o Implying that thousands of volunteer hours, millions in staff salaries and years of
planning processes simply were “wrong” and pointless.
o Creating an atmosphere of anti-development sentiment and us-vs-them dynamic
throughout town instead of a collaborative spirit over our future vision.
Since the moratorium is meant to address concerns over Boulder evolving too fast or too much, let’s cut
to the chase and clarify the community benefits we expect from taller buildings. If you choose to
PO Box 20646 Boulder, CO 80308 Ph: 720-222-9602 Email: [email protected] Web: www.BoulderTomorrow.com Twitter: @bouldertomorrow
support a moratorium, at most this should last 6 months. Let's brainstorm, compile ideas and inform
City Council so you can clarify these community benefits by Aug 30, 2015. Put those ideas out for
comment in September. Assume an October vote formalizing such benefits. (A good template to follow
is the list of high standards and attributes companies must choose from to be eligible for fee rebates.)
Candidates for Council can weigh in on these new rules and voters can align with the perspectives that
resonate. To keep this on track, the moratorium should sunset on November 3, 2015: Election Day. The new requirements will also inform goals of the broader Comp Plan update process.
Thanks for considering these ideas,
Dan Powers
Executive Director
Boulder Tomorrow
720-222-9602
About Boulder Tomorrow: We are a 15-yr old, non-profit organization providing research, policy statements and
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