[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: Tonight's meeting comments

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Morzel, Lisa

Colleagues,

Unfortunately I am unable to be at council's  meeting tonight. 

I'd like to weigh in on a couple topics:

Regarding impact fees:
We need to continue this study. I do support the recommendation to eliminate the option that proposes a $35/sq ft impact fee.  In fact, I support an impact fee of $35/sq ft or very close to that amount.  I do not support the current fee which is ridiculous and I certainly do not support $15/sq ft which is also ridiculously low and does little, if nothing, to address the true costs of growth. 
I also question why it is we are so worried about a decrease in land cost when land today in Boulder is not affordable for most and only a few are benefitting. Instead of being preoccupied with keeping and increasing land values, our focus should be at our challenges which is housing that is affordable to broad section of our population. Our trends are that fewer and fewer can afford to own. I'm not okay with that. 
The only one of the three options that is acceptable to me is the $35/sq ft as that actually might start capturing our goal of 10% affordable housing. We are being hypocritical or contradictory when we say we have a 10% goal of affordable housing of our housing stock yet we implement policies that do not enable that to happen. 
In summary, I support option 3, the $35/sq ft and being out in front of peer cities doesn't bother me.  It's not the first time for Boulder. Instead of focusing on land values, we should focus on a modest rent increase and on our goals of 10% affordable housing. What staff is proposing tonight does not address our biggest challenge: housing for employees. 
I also would like a better analysis of the true costs of growth.
and revisit the credit issue as part of our larger Inclusionary Housing Ordinance discussion—scheduled to be completed in the next 9 months—where we will look more broadly at whether/how we may want to further incentive the building of affordable housing using our full suite of tools.
Regarding affordable housing and fees for the providers, those are real costs to the city and thus the general taxpayer. I am not willing to write those off for the providers without a vote of the people. If our voters are okay with others (ie themselves) paying the cost the real costs and this fees for affordable housing, I'm fine but we need to ask the voters. I think we should consider a ballot item in 2017.  Like Zan, I'd like to delay decision on this until we have our discussion with the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance which should be completed in the next 9 months. 

Regarding the convention and visitors bureau and who sits on the board, while i appreciate everyone's efforts on this, most of the board has a vested interest. I want to see significantly more individuals on this board who have non-vested interests.  

Regarding the state ballot issues, I am strongly in favor of raising the state minimum wage and so do support our position to support Amendment 70. I also strongly support our opposition to Amendment 71-people have a constitutional right to place initiatives on the ballot and I think the current bar is fair. I have no interest in shutting out people's voices.

Regarding short term rentals and the current ordinance, we need better fine tuning and definitely more code enforcement.  Some are abusing the system and we need enforcement to stop that. (When the budge comes up, I will requesting more staffing for code enforcement and in-house janitorial services. 

Thanks for considering my comments. 

Lisa

Lisa Morzel
Member, Boulder City Council

303-938-8520 h
303-815-6723 c

"We interact with one another as individuals responding to a complex haze of factors: professional responsibilities, personal likes and dislikes, ambition, jealousy, self-interest, and, in at least some instances, genuine altruism.  Living in the here and now, we are awash with sensations of the present, memories of the past, and expectations and fears for the future. Our actions are not determined by any one cause; they are the fulfillment of who we are at that particular moment.  After that moment passes, we continue to evolve, to change, and our memories of that moment inevitably change with us as we live with the consequences of our past actions, consequences we were unaware of at the time." The Last Stand, Nathaniel Philbrick