Public Comment - Item 5B - 1833 19th St. - Andrew and Francesca GettelmanAndrew and Francesca Gettelman
3111 4th Street, Boulder, CO, 80304
andrewgettelman@gmail.com, 303-667-0414
To: Landmarks Board
From: Andrew and Francesca Gettelman
Re: 1833 19th St (Jan 3 2018, Item 5B). [LUR2017-00047]
Date: December 31, 2017
We are owners of 1827 Canyon Blvd, and have been since 1999. This property is
located immediately west of 1833 19th Street. We lived on the site from 1999-2003
and 2008-2009. We cannot attend the January 3, 2018 meeting in person, but want
to communicate our significant concerns for the additional structure proposed.
We take exception to the plans for alteration of the adjacent property to ours at
1833 19th Street. We think the lack of parking is inappropriate, and any rooftop
access is also inappropriate, out of character and will result in significant impacts on
adjacent properties. We further submit that these units will likely be occupied by
more than 3 unrelated persons and this is too dense for the site, and out of character
with the 1800 block of Canyon Blvd, where most of the other buildings are from
when it was still Water Street.
Since the property at 1833 19th Street was modified to contain 12 people there has
been an increase in trash and parking issues behind the building. Adding additional
units to the property without adequate provision for parking is simply not
appropriate. The owners can make all the appeals to urban and green living they
want, but the fact is that these are often student and young adult units, they
routinely push the limit of unrelated persons per unit, and most of the tenants have
vehicles, often 3 or 4 per unit. Adding 8 more people without parking will not help.
Having lived on the property with two children as a family, this will further push the
1800 block of Canyon Blvd. away from mixed income and age housing. When we
moved to this block (North side of Canyon between 18th and 19th Street) in 1999
there were several families on the block. Development like this has driven them out.
4 bedroom units are an invitation to abuse of the 3 person unrelated occupancy
requirement. The economics of such units on the rental market invite 4 unrelated
persons (students or just post-students) to inhabit the unit.
We also significantly object to ANY rooftop access (deck and stair). The adjacent
properties at 1827 and 1825 have bedrooms that would face the deck, and with
student housing this is an invitation to neighborhood strife with parties that would
be within 20ft of bedrooms at 1827 and 1825 Canyon (properties right to the west).
We have experienced this in nearby buildings across the alley, and had to call the
police several times (with children sleeping). Having an adjacent deck in any form
would be extremely disruptive. The proposed simple removal of a canopy is not
sufficient. The rooftop deck is not historical or appropriate for such a building
(none of the duplexes noted in the application have such decks, nor does the existing
duplex on this block of Canyon). There should not be casual rooftop access to any
structure such as this. If outdoor space is desired (and it should be), then the
footprint of the proposed building should be reduced.
In summary, we feel that adding additional very high-density units to the site aimed
at the student and young adult market is inappropriate, especially with rooftop
access and lack of additional parking. This proposed development will have a
significant negative impact on the adjacent properties, and be a degradation to the
block.
We are sorry to not be able to attend the meeting in person, but happy to discuss
this further.
Sincerely,
Andrew and Francesca Gettelman
From:Andrew Gettelman
To:Hewat, James; landmarksboard
Subject:Comment on Item for upcoming Landmarks Board Meeting (5b)
Date:Sunday, December 31, 2017 3:06:28 PM
Attachments:LUR2017-00047_comment.pdf
Dear Mr. Hewat and the members of the Landmarks Board,
Attached please find a comment on item 5B for the upcoming Landmarks board meeting. We
are adjacent property owners and former residents, and have some significant concerns about
this project and potential negative impacts. We are sorry we cannot attend the meeting in
person.
We are happy to comment further or answer questions.
Sincerely,
Andrew and Francesca Gettelman