Thread by @shayshinecastle

Next: We're 90% done with the East Boulder Subcommunity Plan, so we've got one last check-in before this thing gets voted on.

documents.bouldercolorado.gov/WebLink/DocVie…

Not gonna lie, I took 0 notes o this bc it's so hard to translate to readers. I'll follow along the presentation and add anything I can.

This is only the second subcommunity plan the city has done. NoBo was the first; that finished in the 90s and "we're still working" on implementing some of those elements, Planner Kathleen King says.

Things like the NoBo library, opening (probably) next year.

East Boulder will be similar, King says. Expect change to happen gradually over the next ~20 years or so.

Just making the plan has already lasted 3 years.

Council last visited this in July, when the plan was 60% finished. General feedback:
- More and more diverse housing
- More details
- Save industrial and biz spaces

King: "The vision for East Boulder is to evolve into a thriving industrial area with interesting places to live, work, play and do biz."

What's in the East Boulder Subcommunity Plan? More plans!
- Land use plan (what can be built where)
- Connections plan (transportation)
- Policy, programs and project recommendations
- 55th/Arapahoe station area plan (for bus station / transportation facility)

It's plans all the way down.

This plan could allow for up to 5,000 additional homes in east Boulder (11% bump in city housing stock), with 1,200 of them being affordable (32% increase of affordable homes). Population increase of 11,000.

Reminder: This is over 20 years.

Here's a little breakdown of jobs/housing in four distinct east Boulder neighborhoods. (STAMP = 55th/Arapahoe area)

Jean Sanson talking more about recommended transportation changes. Current conditions: "Street blocks are long and disconnected," Sanson says.

Of course, the 55th/Arapahoe bus station is a huge piece of this. Even though RTD service in the area (at least in the near term) is questionable. There is a proposed 47% cut in service hours for the JUMP line, which runs along Arapahoe. boulderbeat.news/2022/03/19/bus…

Lots of changes on tap for the Arapahoe corridor at the city level. There's a plan for that, too! bouldercolorado.gov/projects/east-…

Didn't realize that 55th street was a possible site for the station of our hypothetical train to Denver.

But it is apparently so.

There is a May joint public hearing on the East Boulder subcommunity plan with the Planning Board.

"What you're seeing tonight in front of you is about balance," says Erin Bagnall, a member of the east Boulder working group. "As you know, there are ppl in Boulder who would like things to stay the same, as well as ppl who want things to be different."

That included strategically identifying "areas of change" and concentrating efforts there.

That means making some areas more walkable while preserving industrial areas as-is.

Or mostly as-is.

Winer says she's heard from homeowners south of Arapahoe who felt like they weren't part of the process. Are there going to be opportunities for input?

People, this has been going on FOR THREE YEARS.

"We are nearing the end of engagement," King says. "We have done a lot of outreach to neighborhoods south of Arapahoe." Direct mailings, info on utility mailings, and neighbors on our working group.

"We are at the end of this process," King says. As projects come up one at a time, they will each have community engagement opportunities.

"Not a small amount of community members said they knew nothing about this," Winer says. "Maybe there's some other way for those who have been missed" to get their input.

"I'm not saying you didn't do it," Winer says. "I'm just reading emails."

Winer asks about missing middle housing, and planner Jay Sugnet explains that missing middle is actually TYPES of housing, not levels of affordability. That is, it does NOT mean housing that is affordable to the middle class.

Though of course, it can be, and is certainly more affordable to more people than single-family homes.

Anyway, Sugnet said the city is planning for as many dif types of housing as possible in east Boulder.

Winer: How do we make sure we have service from RTD, given all the changes. It would be a shame to have a transit station and no transit.

Sanson: We're working with RTD to restore the JUMP there, and we're also working with partners to think of other ways to provide transit along Arapahoe (CO 7).

Wallach: "I am interested in understanding how we will get middle-income housing when the market seems to be incapable of providing middle-income housing to date."

Wallach: "How are we going to miraculously get the middle-income housing that is like an extinct species. You don't see it anywhere." (He says of a city where 70% of residential land allows only one type of housing, the most expensive kind.)

Benjamin: Where did we land on density? Is it maxed out? Low? Middle? How much space do we have left?

King: It varies by area. Generally, we're from 25-40 dwelling acres per unit, as a rough average. It's going to depend on how it gets developed out.

We looked less that exact numbers, King said, than on maintaining good public spaces, good transportation connections, and our housing needs.

Benjamin: If this plan represents a max-out of how much density we could do, we would need to pursue dif strategies to add more housing. If they're conservative and within our current rules/system, I'd like to know that.

King: There is wiggle room.

Folkerts: How did we arrive at this density and these mechanisms? Was there a consideration of minimum dwelling acres per unit?

King: We did consider putting in allowed or disallowed types of housing, or max or minimum density.

But for what we wanted to see, King says, consultants and experts said those were not useful tools.

Instead, the plan is using form-based code (which focuses on how buildings LOOK, not density or use) and "place types" that are less prescriptive.

Residential mixed-use: Residential with ground floor retail, personal services

Innovation mixed-use: Residential/office above creative office/retail or light industrial

Flex: Office and/or industrial

Flex mixed-use: Office/industrial with ground-floor retail

Winer: How are we making sure we have an urban tree canopy so we don't create a heat island?

The city has a goal for its tree canopy, as part of its climate goals. Lemme see if I can find them...

King: East Boulder has less than 5% canopy coverage today, which is less than our goals. We can request trees in right-of-way as places redevelop.

Speer thanks staff for their wonderful outreach.

Winer responds: It was a marginalized community who reached out to me and their community connector. Not who everybody thinks it is.

Quick thoughts from CC members
Benjamin: Let's not bake in obsolescence
Folkerts: Let's make sure to save biz; if they leave, they won't be back
Joseph: As we think about housing, we also need to think about services for residents (as in, businesses)

"I feel like this area is going to be very vibrant," Joseph says.

Wallach Sigh-O-Meter: 1.35

First reference to Parc Mosaic! Mark your East Boulder BINGO cards!

We're done with the 90% review. "Looking forward to seeing 100%," Friend says.

@threadreaderapp please unroll. Thanks!