Boulder’s Planning Board will be drafting its annual letter to City Council at its meeting tomorrow (11/19). And tweeting this exercise will be so much more fun with a little public participation. Please share your thoughts at 6PM: tinyurl.com/yyl9s76x
City Council wants to know what work made Planning Board ‘happy’ and ‘sad’ this year. Talk at an earlier meeting went directly to climate change and structural racism (both sad, to be clear), so some hearts are in the right place.
But they can also push on specific projects. A lot from last year’s letter is still out there: Alpine Balsam, CU South, updating use tables (zoning), parking codes, and an area plan for East Boulder. Diversifying housing and transportation alternatives are perennial concerns.
City Council likes to disregard these communications from boards when they ask for too much. Or for the wrong things. And Planning Board isn’t a blank slate either. But speaking your mind at city meetings has never been easier, so do join in.
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Live from Boulder Planning Board...We've got a discussion of parking (the Access Management And Parking Strategy/AMPS) program, and Planning Board's annual report to City Council. Also we'll have a visit from Boulder's new Director of Planning Jacob Lindsey.
Boulder Planning Board is meeting tonight in case anyone still cares about local politics. We’ve got a deeply personal fight about live music at a restaurant on E. Pearl, a minor change to the NoBo subcommunity plan, and an update on CU South annexation and public process.
The restaurant fight involves River and Woods (formerly John’s), which has been hosting nearly-nightly live music in its rear garden seating area since reopening in after stay-at-home. A neighbor (or maybe two?) is upset by the noise.
Meanwhile in Boulder…I’m listening in on a town hall meeting with Police Chief Maris Herold hosted by the Dairy Arts Center. There's been an increase in camping in the park north of the Dairy, and two weeks ago a homicide victim was found there.
More than 100 people in attendance. Herold starts her introduction talking about challenges of COVID capacity limits at the jail.
Chief Herold is big on data-driven policing, so we've got a data-heavy report on citywide trends. Property crimes - theft, burglary, arson - are up this year.
Hey Boulder, if you need something other than fires and elections to doomscroll tonight, I’ve got you covered. Planning Board is doing a concept review of a big downtown project…
Grace Commons Church (formerly First Pres) wants to redevelop its main campus and annex at 16th/Walnut. Church spaces, a cafe, and 30 units affordable housing are in the mix. Here’s the packet: www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/Item_5A_G…
My drink for this meeting is a "Sparks Fly" from Ratio Beerworks. Not sure what message spouse is trying to send with that delivery...
I've heard so much over the years about the Crossroads Mall, but it was gone by the time I arrived in 2007. So appreciated that city staff's presentation started with this history:
The proposal for office and a small amount of retail adds about 12,000 sq ft to the existing building.
Some of you Boulderites are following the Muni hearing tonight, but I - and a not insignificant number of city staff - am hanging with the Planning Board.
Some jokes amongst staff about double-screening it tonight. Let's try not to inflict too much brain damage on them, ok?
Anyway, tonight's meeting is starting an hour early because it's a big agenda: There's a site review for the NoBo branch library, and a discussion of Use Tables and Community Benefit - two zoning projects that deserve far more public attention than they've gotten.