The Boulder City Council voted 8-1 on Feb. 20 to adopt a form-based code that will guide development in much of East Boulder, allowing more housing in the city’s primarily industrial eastern half. Final approval of the ordinance is still required.
The updates are part of the East Boulder Subcommunity Plan, which covers an area north of Arapahoe Avenue and east of the Foothills Highway. City officials estimate the plan could enable the construction of about 5,000 new housing units over time.
The vote followed a two-month delay, partially due to opposition from the business community to housing requirements in the code. The council originally planned to vote in December but postponed the decision after protests over the Israel-Hamas war disrupted the meeting.
The form-based code is intended to shape East Boulder’s overall look and feel, requiring specific building and streetscape standards with certain exceptions. A key goal is to preserve the area’s industrial character, in part by including a requirement to create “production business spaces” — such as maker spaces — in certain developments.
Earlier proposals of the form-based code would have required major redevelopments in some areas to include housing. The final proposal, however, allows more projects to go through site review, a discretionary development review process involving the Planning Board and Boulder City Council, instead of following strict form-based code requirements. The change gives property owners more flexibility in redevelopment plans. It followed pushback from BioMed Realty, a San Diego-based real estate investment firm that owns most of Flatiron Business Park and plans to build life sciences facilities.
Developers can also seek exemptions to the housing requirements if they demonstrate that on-site pollution or contamination poses a potential health and safety risk — highlighting ongoing tensions over bringing residential uses into an industrial zone.
Mayor Pro Tem Lauren Folkers, who supported the form-based code, said at last week’s council meeting that it strikes the right balance for allowing a variety of projects, “from the quantum computing hub to increased housing and 15-minute neighborhoods.”
Councilmember Mark Wallach cast the sole dissenting vote, citing uncertainty with the site review process that could theoretically result in project denials.
“You get why this would be problematic to people who are raising substantial amounts of capital to develop within our city high-end research facilities?” Wallach told city officials at last week’s meeting.
If approved, the changes could take effect as soon as early April, according to city officials.
This again is an example where the council ignores public input and does whatever it wants. The council is not representative of the people who elected them. The general public and business owners in the affected area responded to a questionaire by saying they are NOT in favor of development in this area.
I’m concerned about the one-sided approach of acquiescing to the deep pocket investors in high tech facilities. More private equity in Boulder is not what we need. Sure, a quantum hub sounds exciting and cutting edge but what is the fallout for those not in that industry? On one hand, I guess it will be good for city coffers, but the effect on the 50% of us living below average AMI could be yet more devastating due to the “magnet effect” of luring ever more high tech high wage earners from faraway places to Boulder at the expense of our “essential workers” and other low-income residents struggling to manage rent already. As AMI soars into the stratosphere, along with housing prices, how many of our existing 60,000 daily in-commuters are going to want to pull up stakes and move here to avoid that long, environmentally damaging commute? There are so many other things to consider here and I’ve not heard a word about any of them. It seems to be beyond all the talking heads to understand that they need to think more comprehensively.
I’m curious about how the noise code will be handled. Will the 85 db daytime and 80 db night time industrial noise levels be acceptable to the new residents, or will the industry be required to switch to the residential noise levels of 65 db daytime and 60 db at night? The db numbers appear small, yet the difference in sound levels is huge.