[BoulderCouncilHotline] Two BHP Matters

[Yates, Bob]

Council Colleagues:


First, as council's liaison to the city's housing authority, Boulder Housing Partners, I am happy to share with you BHP's annual summary report for 2018, which is attached. You'll see from the report that BHP had another outstanding year last year, including the opening of the 35 new units at Palo Park. Nearly three-quarters of the more than 3,000 residents living in the 35 communities owned and managed by BHP around Boulder earn at or below 30 percent of the Area Median Income. Parallel resident services ensure that 100 percent of pre-K children living in these communities are enrolled in preschool programs, and the graduation rate among high-school residents is 95 percent, exceeding that of our general population. At next Tuesday's council meeting, you'll hear a more in-depth report about one of the BHP properties, at 1175 Lee Hill Road, as that facility--jointly operated by the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless--approaches the fifth anniversary of its opening.


Second, on Tuesday, council will consider whether to call up the form-based code review of BHP's plans for the 30Pearl (former Pollard site) affordable housing development. That review application was unanimously approved by our Planning Board last night. I would urge council not to call up the review, for several reasons, including the following:


- The review by city staff and our Planning Board was rigorous and thorough, and the board's decision was without dissent.


- Because of their location, the design of the buildings containing 120 units of permanently-affordable housing is subject to our form-based code. That code requires compliance with (or exception from) a 488-point checklist. BHP sought exceptions from only eight of those 488 points, all of which were actually related to internal inconsistencies within the code itself. The Planning Board unanimously granted those exceptions.


- The project showcases public art, embraces environmental sustainability, will house our most at-risk families and individuals, and provides transit, biking, and walking opportunities to nearby retail establishments, easily accessible to the new residents. Several of the apartments will be set aside as supportive units for developmentally-disabled adults, in partnership with Ramble on Pearl. All of these attributes were recognized our Planning Board when they unanimously approved the project last night.


- I am not aware of any significant community opposition to the project.


- In addition to CHFA tax credits, the project qualifies for special Qualified Census Tract funding, worth $4.2 million, which allows for the high number of deeply-affordable units. That Qualified Census Tract support will expire if construction work is not commenced by December 31. A call-up and further review of the Planning Board's unanimous decision could delay the project and put that necessary funding at risk.


For all of these reasons, I urge you not to call up our Planning Board's unanimous review approval when it comes before us on Tuesday night.

Best,

Bob


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.ci.boulder.co.us/pipermail/bouldercouncilhotline/attachments/20190419/8d84831a/attachment.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: BHP 2018 Annual Report.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 2943753 bytes
Desc: BHP 2018 Annual Report.pdf
Url : http://list.ci.boulder.co.us/pipermail/bouldercouncilhotline/attachments/20190419/8d84831a/attachment.pdf