Following public feedback, a recommended draft of the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan is now available for public review. Updated every five to 10 years, the plan guides the City of Boulder and Boulder County on land-use policy, from housing development to open space protection.
One of the key changes in the latest draft is new language stating that “the city supports increasing the housing supply.” The change followed a recommendation from the city’s Housing Advisory Board to include a statement acknowledging the need to increase the overall supply of housing in the Boulder Valley.
The plan does not set a specific goal for additional housing. But the draft is expected to create capacity for about 35% more housing than the current plan, according to a city official. Under existing policy, about 350 to 400 housing units are permitted in the city each year on average. The plan focuses on land-use changes that support more single-unit attached housing, such as duplexes, triplexes and townhomes.
Adoption hearings and opportunities for public comment will begin in June. Deliberation and voting will begin in mid-June. Community members can register to speak at city council meetings. The timeline is as follows:
- June 4: Joint public hearing for City Council and City Planning Board
- June 11: Joint public hearing for County Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners
- June 16: Deliberation by City Planning Board
- June 17: Deliberation by County Planning Commission
- June 25: Deliberation and vote by Boulder City Council and county commissioners
NO! We have so much vacant housing now, we definitely don’t need any more!
There is no market for duplex’s or triplex’s. Lots in Boulder are way to expensive, and developers are goingto make equally as much, if not more either developing a large house or renting out multiple bedrooms for the existing units. Building a duplex does not increase the overall value of the property, and probably diminishes it. The nice attached housing that BRL is using for it’s picture is not the type of housing that can be build on existing lots, that was a development on a large piece of vacant land, such as the planning reserve or Dakota Ridge or a redeveloped shopping center. The only affordable housing in Boulder is going to be what we build, zoning changes will do nothing.
Huge housing projects of dense pack apartments have not made Boulder more affordable. Adding 35% more housing stresses infrastructure, traffic, quality of life. Require the University to provide housing to its growing student population and free up existing housing in Boulder currently rented to students. There is also large swaths of commercial real estate that could be repurposed for housing without stressing the city infrastructure and quality of life.
1) Building more housing doesn’t solve affordability here
2) Is the city transit infrastructure designed for higher density? If adding 1000s of houses on north side of town surely that would further bottleneck Broadway and 28th street even more(?)
3) Who’s to pay for the infrastructure build out and added resources such as water, etc?