Gunbarrel Community Center Plan Approval Process
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Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - Boulder County Planning Commission review of the
Gunbarrel Community Center Plan. The plan, produced by the City of Boulder Planning
Department and explained to the Gunbarrel community on July 23rd, was reviewed by the
County Planning Board. Since the planning area is within the boundaries of the City of
Boulder, the County has no authority to approve, modify, or disapprove. However, the City
forwarded the plan to the County Planning Commission and the County Commissioners out of
respect for the four body process that governs the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan.
The Planning Commission held a public hearing and accepted comments. Several Gunbarrel
representatives spoke against the four story provision in the retail core area of the plan.
In their discussion, after hearing our comments, two members of the Planning Commission
openly stated their disapproval of the concept of four stories in the Gunbarrel Shopping
Center. The remaining three members decided to reserve judgement on the issue until specific
plans for development are brought forward.
Tuesday, August 26, 2003 - Board of County Commissioners review of the Gunbarrel
Community Center Plan. As with the County Planning Commission review scheduled as shown
above, the County Commissioners do not have approval authority over City development
processes.
The County Commissioners also held a public hearing and accepted comments. Again, several
Gunbarrel representatives spoke against the four story provision in the retail core area of
the plan. In their discussion, after hearing our comments, the two Commissioners present
were firm in their disapproval of the concept of four stories in the Gunbarrel Shopping
Center, even to the point of suggesting that two stories would be more appropriate. The
Commissioners comments were forwarded to the City by Planning Staff.
Thursday, September 4, 2003 - City of Boulder Planning Board review of the
Gunbarrel Community Center Plan. The plan, produced by the City of Boulder Planning
Department and explained to the Gunbarrel community on July 23rd, started through
the City's approval process with a review by the City of Boulder Planning Board.
The Planning Board started the process with a public hearing. Several Gunbarrel representatives
spoke firmly against the four story provision in the retail core of the plan's focus area.
They stated that the Gunbarrel community was adamantly opposed to four stories, that they felt that
four story buildings were out of character with Gunbarrel, and that four stories were not
financially necessary as evidenced by the fact that eight of the nine mixed use developments
in the City of Boulder were capped at three stories.
The Planning Board, after some discussion, decided to approve the part of the plan addressing the
issue of four stories.
Thursday, October 16, 2003 - City of Boulder Planning Board Approval of the Gunbarrel
Community Center Plan. This meeting was intended to address the Transportation Master Plan
part of the Gunbarrel Community Center Plan.
Again, the Planning Board started the process with a public hearing. Again, several Gunbarrel
representatives spoke firmly against the four story provision in the retail core of the plan's
focus area and against some obvious flaws in the transportation master plan. Again, after
questioning planning staff on the issues raised, the Planning Board unanimously approved the plan.
Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - Boulder City Council study session on the Gunbarrel Community
Center Plan. This was an introductory presentation for the five new Council members. Since this was
a study session, there was no public hearing and there was no opportunity for the public to participate.
The City of Boulder Planning Department staff made a balanced presentation on the Plan. The
difference of opinion over whether four story buildings are appropriate for Gunbarrel was
characterized as just that, a difference of opinion.
The City Council members were well aware of the four story issue prior to the meeting. Several
asked very specific questions. Numerous action items were assigned to the Planning Department
to be answered at the meeting on February 3rd. Some specific points of contention are summarized
below.
When asked why four story buildings were appropriate for Gunbarrel, Peter Pollock said that four
story buildings are consistent with what is being built in Boulder. He was not referring to
mixed-use developments since eight mixed-use developments in Boulder have been built to a 35 foot
height limitation. He was referring to “downtown Boulder,” the area around Pearl Street, where
One Boulder Plaza has been built to four stories. We ask - why are four story buildings
appropriate for Gunbarrel when they have not been deemed appropriate for North Boulder, East
Boulder, or South Boulder developments?
The staff presentation indicated that Gunbarrel traffic growth under the plan would be similar to
traffic growth under the “do nothing” scenario, in other words, in the absence of a plan. We ask,
if we have taken the time to produce a plan, why did we not come up with ways to reduce traffic
growth?
Council Member Crystal Gray asked if the four story heights of 55 feet included a provision for
the installation of utilities on the rooftops. She was told that an additional allowance beyond
55 feet would be necessary to allow for utilities. We can expect these four story buildings
to be closer to 65-70 feet high.
Tuesday, February 3, 2004: 6:00 PM in City Council chambers at Broadway and Canyon
- Boulder City Council approval of the Gunbarrel Community Center Plan. This meeting
included a public hearing followed by consideration of changes by the Council.
The City of Boulder Planning Staff made a presentation answering the questions posed by
the Council at the study session on January 13th. Part of the presentation included maps
showing the locations of other buildings in Boulder that are four stories high or higher.
Marilee Utter of Citiventure, the consultant hired by the City last year to study the
demands for housing and retail shopping in Gunbarrel, also made a presentation. She
contrasted the costs of land and construction in Gunbarrel with the same costs in Boulder.
She also contrasted the retail revenue per square foot in Gunbarrel with the revenue from
an equivalent retail outlet in Boulder to make the point that developers needed a higher
profit incentive in Gunbarrel than in Boulder. She also estimated that between 500 and
1000 homes in the "proximate area" were required to support the businesses in the retail
core.
At the public hearing, between 20 and 25 people spoke to a variety of issues relative to the
Plan. With one or two exceptions, all were opposed to the four story provision and the high
residential density in the retail core. One speaker pointed out that the cost differences
between Boulder and Gunbarrel favored developers in Gunbarrel. Another speaker pointed out
that the Citiventure study indicated that there was an unmet demand for 90,000 to 140,000
square feet of retail without providing one single new residence, job, or student. A third
speaker questioned why high density residential was required in the retail core since there
are 332 apartments in Meadow Creek and 160 condos in Stonegate now, the sum of which meets the
Citiventure low number. City estimates suggest that 300 additional residences will be built
north of Lookout Road and an additional 60 will be built along Gunpark Drive, all within the
Plan's 111 acre focus area. If the retail core is developed with 35 residential units per acre,
a real possibility with four story buildings, it will contain another 800 residential units.
All of these residences meet the "proximate" criterion, making the total available to support
the community center retail 1650 units, far more than the high number suggested by Marilee Utter.
The public hearing was followed by a discussion by the Council. None of the points addressed
above was discussed. Council expressed concerns that "impediments not be put up to developers"
and that "neighborhoods should not have veto power." A motion by Gordon Riggle to change the
height limit in the retail core to three stories failed by a five to four vote. A motion was
made by Mark Ruzzin to (1) allow four stories but limit the fourth story to 25% of the building
footprint; (2) keep the open space requirement at 40% of the land area for all developments with
four story buildings; and (3) require that all developments including a fourth story be submitted
to the County Commissioners and the County Planning Commission for comment. This motion passed
by a six to three vote, with Riggle, Gray, and Eldridge dissenting.
This new language will be referred to the Boulder Planning Board for approval. Tom Krueger, Chair
of the Planning Board, indicated that he thought the full Board would concur with the Council's
recommendations.
Thursday, March 4, 2004 - City of Boulder Planning Board review of the
Gunbarrel Community Center Plan. The Planning Board modified the changes proposed by the City
Council in their meeting on February 3, 2004. These modifications affected two areas: (1) setbacks
of 20 feet at the fourth story level were specified for the frontages on Lookout Road, Spine Road,
and Gunpark Drive; and (2) the 25% coverage at the fourth story level was allowed to be allocated
across all the buildings in a development rather than limited to each building in a development.
Tuesday, March 16, 2004:
Boulder City Council approval of the Gunbarrel Community Center Plan. The City Council adopted
the first of the Planning Board's proposals stated above but rejected the second. This new language
will be referred back to the Boulder Planning Board for approval.
Thursday, April 1, 2004 - City of Boulder Planning Board review of the Gunbarrel Community
Center Plan. The Planning Board adopted the changes proposed by the City Council in their meeting
on March 16, 2004. The Planning Board felt that it was not appropriate for them to repeat their
actions taken in their meeting on March 4; i.e., they should not disagree with the position
taken by City Council for a second time.
In agreeing to defer to the City Council on this issue, several members of the Board made it very
clear that they were unhappy with the City Council language. They expressed concern that the limited
fourth story would offer little useful space once stairways and elevators were provided. They decried
the lost opportunity to provide more housing in Gunbarrel and claimed that the result would be more
urban sprawl in Eastern Boulder and Weld Counties.
The Board also discussed the possibility that developers could submit proposals that were non-compliant
with the adopted plan and that they and the City Council could either approve those proposals or modify
the adopted plan to make them compliant.
With these actions the City of Boulder approved the Gunbarrel Community Center Plan. The Boulder County
Planning Commission had reserved judgement and the Boulder County Commissioners had expressed
opposition to the provisions for four stories leaving the four parties divided on the approval process.
The approved Gunbarrel Community Center Plan contained provisions that required zoning changes to five
parcels of land surrounding the King Soopers Shopping Center. These changes, as part of the Boulder
Valley Comprehensive Plan, required four body approval by the County and the City. When these changes
came before the Boulder County Planning Commission and the Board of County Commissioners, the stage was
set to resolve the four story issue. After much dialog by the four parties, an Intergovernmental
Agreement (IGA) was signed settling the height and zoning issues. That agreement is described on the
IGA page on this web site.
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page updated 12/02/10
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