Thread by @shayshinecastle

OK, we're on to community benefit. No public hearing bc that already happened. Staff presentation: www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/5C_Commun…

This is related to the height limit: What should the city get when it lets buildings go above 35 feet and up to 55 feet (the citywide height limit, per the charter)

The only benefit on the table now is extra affordable housing.

Proposed: 4th and 5th stories, above 35 ft but below 55
Residential projects: 36% inclusionary rentals and 50% of for-sale units must be on-site (rather than standard 25%)

Non-residential projects: Impact fee will go up by 43%

Other community benefits Boulder may consider in the future:
Affordable: housing, small housing units, affordable commercial space
Arts and culture: Affordable spaces for arts uses
Environmentally enhanced design: energy code pilot, emerald ash borer mitigation, net zero....

Publicly accessible open space: Plazas, rooftops, resiliency hub
Social services/critical needs: Market vs. affordable spaces

(No idea what that last one means; I'll explain later when staff covers it)

Also being discussed tonight: Nursing homes. Should they pay higher linkage fee? Or are they a community benefit?

It will be looked at more in-depth in Phase 2, bc that will include considerations of nonprofit vs. for-profit, etc.

Height limit will (likely) be extended to May 31, 2020

Another discussion item tonight: What areas should be exempt from this? The current map is referred to as Appendix J

Council could add a few places if they want. Staff is recommending adding only Alpine-Balsam, but there are other options.

Option A: just Alpine-Balsam
Option B: Alpine-Balsam, BR-1 (surrounding 29th Street Mall) RH-3 (just south of there, with many 4-5 story buildings)
Option C: Alpine-Balsam, part of BR-1 (east of 28th), RH-3

Option C is staff's recommendation IF council wants to add 29th Street to the map. East of 28th and North of Arapahoe only, is their take, due to "compatibility" issues.

Q1-Q2 2020: Check-in with new council, refine uses and definitions, analyze Appendix J
Q2-Q3 2020: Public engagement, study session, boards/commissions
Q3-Q4 2020: Economic and legal analysis, code drafting, engagement window
Q1-Q2 2021: Code revisions, board and council hearings

It's an aggressive timeline, Carl Guiller says. It may put us in a bit of a crunch to get phase 1 done before height limit moratorium ends.

Brockett asks a q about adding Alpine-Balsam to Appendix J. This wouldn't be "carte blanche" to go up to 55 feet on that city site, staff clarifies: Buildings would still be subject to the area plan height map.

Sorry I'm not tweeting; I'm confused.

Weaver: If we add in the 29th Street area to the exemption map, what would you expect to come in? Isn't there risk you would have redevelopment of commercial space into office space?

Guilller: This is tied into the use table changes, too. The changes we're making are intended to encourage residential and discourage office (use table) and maximize affordable housing (community benefit)

Brockett (to Weaver): If we pass use tables, you couldn't have an office building over a certain size.

A lot of this is related to a dispute between the Boulder Chamber and city consultant about how this impacts office space and the feasibility of those projects with these additional requirements.

Apologies, but I haven't looked at that so I can't explain it.

Brockett would exempt nursing homes from this requirement bc there's such a need. Weaver suggesting that only high-end projects should contribute more to affordability.

"There's a desperate need" for these places, Brockett says. And this isn't retirement communities we're talking about; it's end-of-life care.

Yates: Do we have a good definition of what we're talking about?
Guiller: No. There's so many definitions of care facilities by the state, etc. We need more time to figure that out.

So nursing homes won't be exempted right now. If they did a fourth or fifth floor, they would be subject to higher linkage fees.

IF they're in areas on the exemption map (Appendix J)

Dear god how does anybody understand these things to build stuff in this town. Or how does city staff understand it to explain it to ppl who want to build things?

Weaver wants to add in Alpine-Balsam to Appendix J and add in two zones of high-density residential (RH-3)

Brockett making the case to add in the 29th Street area to Appendix J.

The worst thing that could happen is that ppl come in and do exactly what we're asking for, he says.

Carlisle: Staff doesn't recommend expanding Appendix J until this project is done in 2021. "That's a good reason for me."

Weaver agrees.

Yates was with Brockett but they're alone.

So only Alpine-Balsam and RH-3 zones will be added to the height exemption map. And the height limit moratorium will be extended to May 31, 2021.

I think. Please fact check after the meeting @AaronBrockett12 and/or @sampweaver.

Thanks.

@AaronBrockett12 @sampweaver Council excited about this.

"I've been waiting 12 years," Young says.

@AaronBrockett12 @sampweaver Dang Brockett and Weaver are gonna be tagged in all the tweets I add to this thread.

So I'm just gonna end it. One more tweet to say how council votes.

@AaronBrockett12 @sampweaver Unanimous.

@threadreaderapp please unroll. Thank you.