Minutes - Planning Board - 01/25/2001 • • J
APPROVED APRIL 5, 2001
CITY OF BOULDER
• PLANNING BOARD MINUTES
January 25, 2001
Council Chambers Room, Municipal Building
1777 Broadway, 6:00 p.m.
The following are the minutes of the January 25, 2001 City of Boulder Planning Board meeting. A
permanent set of these minutes is kept in Central Records, and a tape recording of the meeting is
maintained for a period of seven years in Central Records (telephone: 303-441-3043).
BOARD PRESENT:
Peter Gowen
Alan O'Hashi
Beth Pommer
Mark Ruzzin, Chair
BOARD ABSENT:
Al Gunter
Andria Jacob
Tina Nielsen
• STAFF PRESENT:
Brent Bean, Senior Planner
Bob Cole, Director of Project Review
David Gehr, Assistant City Attorney
Bev Johnson, Planner
Mary Lovrien, Board Secretary
John Pollak, Director of the Division of Housing
Peter Pollock, Planning Director
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair M. Ruzzin declared a quorum at 6:05 p.m., and the following business was conducted.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
There were no minutes to approve.
3. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
There was no citizen participation.
4. DISCUSSION OF DISPOSITIONS, PLANNING BOARD CALL-UPS
There were no dispositions or Planning Board call-up items.
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• 5. MATTERS FROM THE PLANNING BOARD, PLANNING DIRECTOR, AND
CITY ATTORNEY
J. Pollak distributed information regarding housing in the city, including housing production last
year(numbers of permanently affordable units,restricted units, assistance to rehabilitate units, and
home ownership assistance, such as shared appreciation loans). He explained that the program to
provide down payment assistance in return for a deed restriction that assures that the home would
be permanently affordable has not been a popular mechanism to get people into their own homes.
He said that a more popular"shared appreciation"loan program was started;the city provides down
payment assistance and receives the percent increase on its share when the home is sold.This money,
in turn, is added to the funds to help other people. He said that the owners can sell the unit at market
rate and is not deed restricted as permanently affordable. He discussed the funding sources for the
down payment assistance programs (the city, Community Development Block Grant [CDBG],
HOME Investment Partnership,Community Housing Assistance Program[CHAP],and cash-in-lieu
from redevelopment).
He discussed the city's efforts to secure 10 percent or 4,500 units of the housing stock as
permanently affordable.He estimated that in the next 10 years the city can secure an additional 1,000
to 1,400 permanently affordable units to add to the existing 1,800 units. He said that the additional
units are short 1,300 to 1,700 units of the 10% goal. He showed a chart which showed the average
median income for a three-person household, the median cost of a single family home, and an
• affordable price, which demonstrates why it is getting harder to secure permanently affordable
housing.He listed the trends that impact future affordable housing,such as the sharp increase in real
estate values (22% for attached housing and 26% for detached housing), fewer affordable units
through inclusionary zoning after 10 years because of residential build-out, decrease in federal
funding, limited funding through property taxes, and decrease in buying power. He said that the
money received from inclusionary zoning is targeting 50% to 70% of area median income.
He also explained the surveys from employers and citizens that recognize that housing is a problem
but are not willing to pay for the cost o f providing affordable housing.He said that City Council will
be discussing mechanisms to provide 10%of affordable housing,such as land use changes that allow
more housing,more inclusionary zoning, and additional money. The Board discussed inclusionary
zoning for commercial development, although there is already a housing excise tax for commercial
development.
(This discussion occurred at the end of the meeting.) M.Ruzzin mentioned that Board members
are needed to introduce the Planning 101 sessions. A. O'Hashi discussed the Downtown Mall
Master Plan, in particular,the zoning that would allow an 85-seat delicatessen in the middle of the
mall without parking. P.Pollock said that parking is provided through the CAGID district. He said
that the plan for development of parking facilities is geared to the balance between development
potential and the provision of public and private parking and transit use. He reported on the January
23 City Council study session regarding the Planning Reserve and housing opportunities. He said
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that managing commercial growth to achieve a jobs/housing balance will require participation from
landowners, stakeholders, and the broader community. He suggested an educational process and
development of a three-dimensional model to help people understand the need and to see what they
will get rather than what will be taken away. He pointed out that the Board of County
Commissioners is scheduled to meet on February 27 to discuss the Boulder Valley Comprehensive
Plan(BVCP)policies.
He distributed a packet of material from the Homeless Shelter Open House.He said that Don Elliott,
a consultant on the project, is scheduled to give an update to the Board on February 1, and the
Planning Board will review the issue on staff s recommendations on February 22. M. Ruzzin
suggested that the February 22 Planning Board meeting be televised. The Board and staff discussed
the process for completing changes to the BVCP land use map. P. Pollock said that staff will
develop a graph that shows the timeline for the BVCP update.
6. ACTION ITEM
A. Public hearing and consideration of Site Review#SI-2000-19 and Preliminary
Plat #S-2000-14 for the "Village at Boulder Creek" to permit development of
126 new units (44 Permanently Affordable and 82 three- and four-bedroom
apartments) for a 6.66 acre property located on Taft Drive between 28th and
Folsom Avenue,zoned High Density Residential(HR-E). The proposal includes
a request for height exception for buildings to 521911, an exception to the solar
requirements of Section 9-3.3-19, and a parking reduction of 7.7%.
M.Ruzzin said that since three Board members are absent from this meeting, the applicant has the
option of having four Board members review the application or asking that the item be scheduled
at a later day. He said that the applicant has decided to continue the item to February 1, 2001.
MOTION:On a motion by B.Pommer,seconded by P.Gowen,the Planning Board approved(4-0;
T. Nielsen,A. Gunter, and A. Jacob were absent) the applicant's request to continue the hearing
to February 1, 2001.
7. DISCUSSION ITEM
A. Discussion of the Year 2000 Major Update to the Boulder Valley
Comprehensive Plan,including proposed changes to the land use map relating
to open space, public lands, and the planning area boundary.
B.Johnson asked the Board to discuss proposed changes to the BVCP land use map relating to open
space,parks, and other public lands. She outlined the following suggestions: 1)change the existing
open space land use designation to better represent the intended use of lands and separate them into
three different subcategories to differentiate from public and private use (land already acquired by
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the city or Boulder County for open space purposes, privately owned land with conservation
easements or other development restrictions, and other public and private land designated prior to
1981 which the city and county would like to preserve through various preservation methods); 2)
apply a new Open Space-Acquired designation to parcels that have been newly acquired and those
that have been transferred recently to the Open Space Department; 3) create a new environmental
preservation designation for a few private properties in Areas I and lI to indicate the city's intent to
preserve environmentally sensitive land through methods other than open space acquisition; 4)
eliminate the non-Urban Parks designation and expand the definition of the Urban and Other Parks
designation; 5)change several city-owned properties to a Public or Urban and Other Parks land use
designations;and 6)change the planning area boundary to incorporate new Open Space acquisitions
that are contiguous to existing planning areas and to redefine the planning area to remain in Boulder
County. She noted an attachment that reflects omissions to the BVCP map ofpublically-owned sites
that have an inappropriate land use designation. P. Pollock explained that the lands designated as
open space on the BVCP map prior to 1981 means that the city had intended that the land would be
preserved as open space.
M. Ruzzin suggested that the third category be changed to read "Other public and private land
designated prior to 1981 which the city and county would like to preserve through various
preservation methods, including,but not limited to, intergovernmental agreements,dedications,or
acquisitions."He also suggested that on page 3, last paragraph,change to read"The Environmental
preservation designation includes private lands in Areas I and II with environmental values which
the city and county would like to preserve through a variety of preservation methods,including,but
not limited to, intergovernmental agreements, dedications, development restrictions, rezonings,
acquisitions, and density transfers." Other, smaller changes, were submitted to staff.
8. ADJOURNMENT:
The Planning Board adjourned the meeting at 7:45 p.m.
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