[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: County Planning Commission and the Planning Reserve

[kohls at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Osborne, Susan

Hi colleagues.

Just a quick note to fill you in on this afternoon's County Planning Commission meeting. On a 6-0 vote the commission denied all of the proposed changes to the Planning Reserve approval process. In addition to rejecting the proposed change to 2 body review, the commission was concerned about the new option to allow significant important projects to be considered at any time, and generally perceived the changes to be a "lowering of the bar" for Planning Reserve proposals.

As a reminder, the council approved the changes to the Planning Reserve on a 6-2 vote. Planning Board approved the changes on a 5-2 vote, and the county planning staff supported the changes. The next step is for the matter to be considered by the county commissioners sometime in September. Depending on the commissioners' vote, the matter may or may not be returned to the Planning Commission.

The facts and reasoning were fairly presented by Pete Fogg and I tried to represent the council majority at the hearing. While I think that some points in favor of the process changes were sorely misinterpreted by the commission, the overall sense was that the process was being made easier and that projects might be approved by the city that wouldn't pass county muster.

There was some discussion about adding a Planning Commission review of county comments on Planning Reserve proposals, but in the end the idea had no traction. There seem to be general support for a baseline study. 

I continue to believe the current process is seriously flawed, and that amending the four body review process is just one aspect of the problem.  While there is no proposal I'd support on the horizon, the current process is Kafka-esque and designed to scuttle any proposal, regardless of merit. I also fail to understand why Boulder should be held to a process that isn't applied to any of the other Super IGA cities.

Lots to talk about, but the next step is the commissioners hearing.

Best,
Susan         

Susan M. Osborne, Mayor
Boulder, Colorado
303-513-3533

Sent from my iPad