Welcome to Friday, Boulder. It’s a good day.

First off: In case you missed it, we’re running a survey we hope you’ll fill out. Responses will help us make BRL Today more of what you want. If you complete the three-minute survey, you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $50 gift card for First Bite. If you’ve already filled it out, you’re awesome.

For today’s top story, I covered a portion of CU South’s history. Over the last month, I’ve read through old newspaper clips, mining records, and talked with many people involved in decisions on the land to try and piece together how we got where we are today.

This November, voters will have the opportunity to uphold or reject the annexation agreement approved last year between CU and the City of Boulder. The agreement made CU South part of Boulder proper, requiring the city to provide it water and utilities. In return, CU will sell the city some acres for open space and flood mitigation. But the question for many is: Why is that land CU’s to begin with? Why didn’t the city buy it? Did it not have the chance? Turns out, it had several.

Original reclamation plans for the land — a plan for how a mining company will restore land to something that’s not a yawning hole in the earth — would have had what is now CU South covered by 40 acres of water. Shortly after CU bought the property, the plan changed. Why? You can read more below.

Also, the Bee Festival is coming up this Saturday. With composting lessons and talk of fire resilient landscapes, it could be a reason to go downtown.

Enjoy your weekend. I hope it’s swell.

— Tim, reporter

Yes, I’ll take the BRL survey!

What to know today

  • Lots of sun following those clouds: After a drizzly spell we have to pay the piper. Today and through the weekend temps will hover around 80 with lots of sun. What did you expect? This is Colorado.
  • Yes, in your backyard? A new proposal for ADUs: A group of local advocates for urban density and affordable housing have proposed changing the city’s policy on accessory dwelling units (ADUs). They say the change will “be quick to implement, simple, and require no significant funding” and could “improve the availability and affordability of housing in Boulder.”
    • On Sept. 16, representatives from housing advocacy organizations Better Boulder, Boulder Is For People and Boulder Housing Network sent a letter to the city’s Housing Advisory Board, the panel advising City Council on housing policy. The letter outlines several policy changes to increase the number of the relatively small homes — typically stacked atop garages, built in backyards and rented out, or used to sleep guests.
    • Recommendations include eliminating saturation limits that cap how many ADUs can be built in certain neighborhoods. Off-street parking requirements are also eliminated, which the letter says run “contrary to Boulder’s efforts to reduce incentives for motor vehicles and to create a less car-dependent urban form.”
    • They also want to increase the allowable lot size for such structures so ADUs can be more suitable for families. In January, city council made changing the city’s rules for ADUs one of its top priorities, part of a broader goal to increase the number of available homes in the city and drive down the cost of housing. The Housing Advisory Board is expected to discuss proposed changes during its next meeting on Sept. 28.
  • City police chief becomes new county undersheriff: Boulder’s Deputy Chief Carey Weinheimer is departing the Boulder Police Department for the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office. According to a news release, Weinheimer was appointed to the position of undersheriff, replacing Tommy Sloan, who is retiring.
    • Sloan served with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office for 34 years. In his tenure he responded to many notable incidents, including the Columbine shooting and the Hill riots.
    • Weinheimer worked as a deputy for the Boulder Sheriff’s Office before moving to the Boulder Police Department in 1990. Sloan and Weinheimer both started at the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office on the exact same day, July 5, 1988.
    • The departure comes as the Boulder Police Department struggles to hire new officers.
  • New function for Boulder Junction? City staff are dusting off a 2007 plan that had set the foundation for redeveloping an area east of 30th Street known as Boulder Junction.
    • Thursday, members of the Boulder City Council asked city staff to make some tweaks before the city breaks ground on any projects in the area. The potential land-use changes reflect how the city and its priorities have changed over the last 15 years. The plan will likely include encouraging more housing, bike paths and transit infrastructure.
    • The city already implemented the land-use plan west of the railroad tracks, which has given rise to apartment buildings and new businesses.
    • The Boulder Junction neighborhood was designed with a bus station at its center as part of an effort to encourage people to use public transportation. But since it opened in 2015, RTD has slashed services across the region, leaving the neighborhood without the bus services it was designed for.
  • Seeking answers to local agricultural issues: Several Boulder County groups and departments are collaborating to identify top issues facing local farmers with the hope of combating them. Operating in the urban interface makes it more difficult for farmers and ranchers to develop a long-term plan for sustainable agriculture. Farmers just starting out have an especially difficult time.
  • There is no Boulder City Council meeting next week: The next meeting on Oct. 6 will be open to the public in-person at City Hall.

Go deeper

Decades of ‘what-ifs’: The history of CU South leaves many wondering what could have been

By Tim Drugan

Some 45,000 acres of protected land surrounds Boulder — open space buffering against urban sprawl. Intermingling with those 45,000 are 308 acres, just south of where US 36 leaves town, known as CU South. These acres are treated by Boulderites as open space, but they’re not. Despite being bordered by city open space, they’re owned by the University of Colorado. When CU bought them in 1996, the university said it wouldn’t build on them for at least 20 years. Those 20 years have passed. Now CU is looking to develop in a big way. 

CU-Boulder’s South property has become a case in point for difficult conversations around Boulder. How do we encourage land conservation while addressing the housing shortage? How do we combat flood risk and climate change as our town grows?

As part of our local history coverage, BRL delved into this saga of our city’s history, hoping to discover what led to where we are today. This history is pertinent. On Nov. 8, 2022, Boulder residents will vote to uphold or reject the annexation agreement — a deal between the City of Boulder and the University of Colorado that made the CU South plot of land, currently outside city limits, part of Boulder proper. Such annexation requires the city to provide CU water and utilities. But what if? What if Boulder had bought the land when it had the chance? And it did have the chance.

Continue reading…

BRL picks

👩‍⚖️ Boards and commissions training: If you’d like to learn what it takes to advise county commissioners, here’s your chance. The training is free. For more information, contact Belinda Hearn at 303-441-3956 or bhearn@bouldercounty.org.

🐝 Bee Boulder festival: For its eighth year, Boulder Bee festival will be(e) commandeering Central Park on Saturday, Sept. 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participants will learn not just about bees, but also local efforts to regenerate Boulder’s tree canopy, its soils and habitats. Tips on composting, organic lawn care, native plants and insects, and fire-resilient landscapes will also be(e) available. Buzz.

🦬 Pearl Street stampede: Tonight at 7 p.m. if you’re a Buffs fan, you know where to go. As before each CU football home game, the Golden Buffalo marching band will play in front of the county courthouse while members of the football team and coaching staff “are greeted with cheers and high fives from fans of all ages.”

🚛 Fiesta & Food Trucks: On Saturday, Sept. 24, between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., you can find pop-up shops, live music, food truck wars and more at the Latino Chamber of Commerce’s Fiesta & Food Trucks event, at Roosevelt Park in Longmont. The event is free to enter.

💪 Fitness equipment sale: Via Boulder Parks & Rec: “Get a great deal on gently used fitness, yoga and Pilates equipment.” All equipment will be sold on a first come, first served basis. The sale begins Saturday, Sept. 24, at Boulder’s East and North Rec Centers.

🐙 Opening reception for ‘Water is Life’: Tonight at 5 p.m. at the Dairy Arts Center, meet the artists behind the project. Before the event, at 4 p.m., a panel in the Carsen Theater made up of exhibiting artists, grassroots organizers and scientists from CU Boulder’s Mountain Research Station, will discuss the essential liquid from varying points of expertise. “The Water is Life project will serve as a bridge to unite community members in Boulder and the Desert Southwest in shared concerns about access to clean water.” The event is free. First come, first seat. “Water doesn’t discriminate, but people do. How do we make this a human need rather than a demographic need?” -JayCee Beyale

What else we’re reading

  • Superior residents sue town, trustees, developer of controversial Town Square project. Residents are suing to keep the city from building the $280 million Coal Creek Innovation Campus. The potential presence of hazardous materials and worries that office space won’t revitalize downtown are just a few concerns of those opposed. [Biz West]

Covid in Boulder County: Sept. 23, 2022

  • 107 daily new cases (7-day avg.) ⬇Down 5% over preceding 7-day avg.
  • 8 patients hospitalized with Covid (7-day avg.) ⬇Down from a high of 16 last week.
  • 56% percent of ICU is occupied. ⬇Down from avg. of 66% since July 2020.

ICYMI

Tim Drugan was a climate and environment reporter for Boulder Reporting Lab.