Hey, #Boulder. Why is this city council night different from all other city council nights? Because it's the LAST ONE BEFORE SUMMER BREAK! Rejoice.
It's a study session, so no public input. But we're talking:
Crime / police dept strategy
Parking (pricing and neighborhood permits)
Extension of the CCS tax to pay for infrastructure projects
Riveting stuff.
Councilwoman Young is leading tonight's study session.
She's using what I want to call a librarian voice...? Or maybe, like, the voice for an automated system of a giant corporation.
It's very soft.
Ah, probably because she's talking about the police officer who died yesterday in Arvada. It bring up fresh, pain memories of what happened in Boulder, Young says (reading a statement). A Samaritan was also killed. denverpost.com/2021/06/22/old…
"For a community that was just starting to heal, learning about another shooting — never mind one that was nearby — can be triggering," Young says.
Basically, parking isn't paying for itself (at least not the neighborhood permits), so the city is recommending higher prices to achieve cost recovery in 5 years.
We'll talk Neighborhood Parking Permits first. My notes:
Resident passes will go from $17 to $30 annually in 2022 and increase by $10 every year thereafter until “cost recovery is achieved”
So No Eviction Without Representation was a citizen petition; it got amended and passed by voters then was renamed/expanded ---> Eviction Prevention Services, because it now included rental assistance.
Basically, provides rental assistance and legal representation to renters facing eviction through a $75 tax per unit of rental housing.
It's already been amended once to apply to mobile homes, and tonight will be extended further.
I wrote about how this will impact pot shops, but the clarification is actually so the city can collect the tax from a whole bunch of retailers who sell vaping devices. boulderbeat.news/2021/06/11/bou…
That's because the current language explicitly says "tobacco retailers". But plenty of places sell vapes that's aren't explicitly tobacco retailers: Grocery stores, bars, liquor stores. And, of course, pot shops.
Actually, jk, I have these notes:
Nuzum’s Nursery - Now home to September School
Mid-century modern style (really?? Did you see those pictures??)
Built in 1940
Landmarks Board voted 5-0 to designate
Moving on: Potential call-up of the partial redevelopment of Diagonal Plaza into housing — including affordable rentals from BHP, which has an adjacent community.
Hard to tell from the slides, but most of the building will be on surface parking. Only the vacant Sports Authority and the Walgreen's will be redeveloped in the actual Diagonal Plaza. (Walgreen's moving staff and Rx to their location like 3 blocks away)
It would also put two streets through the site, with sidewalks, trees, etc.