[BoulderCouncilHotline] Questions re: Item 6B (outdoor dining & west end vehicle closure)

[Jones, Cris]

Good afternoon Councilmembers and HOTLINE followers,

Following are the staff responses in BLUE to the questions received by Councilmember Speer on Sunday evening:


Staff time for the pilot program is expected to be "significant". Re: Table 4 (the decision matrix)

*        Approximately how much staff time is needed for the different options (including time needed to pursue funding opportunities such as grants)?

This analysis has not yet been fully explored. Staff resources from a variety of departments have been and will continue to be necessary moving forward contingent on council guidance. We anticipate that a significant amount of time will be required to implement some of the options that council is considering. Currently, on average, more than 16 total hours a week of staff time has been required to both manage the existing temporary extensions as well as plan for needed changes once emergency orders end.



*        How much of an impact would it make to staff time needed if an ordinance change relaxed some of the use review requirements?

o   Permitting: A part of the pilot program includes a proposal to authorize changes/waiving of use review and other land use standards in order to limit the process requirements for the operator and the staff time needed for the program. Without this change it is estimated that P&DS staff will need at least 10-14 hours per each user that requires a Use Review, with additional time needed for applications that are incomplete, have other land use code requirements, or that generate staff or community concerns. If the ordinance authorizing some waiver is passed it is estimated that each application will take 2-4 hours per year of P&DS staff time to process and inspect The City Attorney's office will need to draft an ordinance and enter into right of way leases with each business that participates in the pilot.

o   Ordinance Change: The ordinance change itself will take approximately 10-15 hours to draft, it will then require participation in two council meetings for first reading and second reading; answering council member questions, etc. The right of way leases will require 2-3 hours to draft an agreement and then approximately 1-2 hours with each business to execute the agreements.  If the ordinance change gets adopted, it is likely that other businesses will want to participate that hadn't previously, thus, increasing the number of businesses that the city will need to process in applications.  Depending on the timing of the ordinance, it may impact the completion of other currently scheduled work.

o   Business Licensing: There will also still be additional time commitments for alcohol licensing. Dependent on the number of participants, an additional 8 to 10 FTE hours may be required each week to process temporary modification applications plus $350 to $400 a month in extra BLA publication costs. Additional staff time may be necessary in the future if temporary modifications continue as is for hearings based on alcohol containment violations, since current fencing will be unacceptable when the state emergency orders expire.



*        What are some examples of work we will be deciding not to pursue under these various options? In other words, what would staff be working on if not this? Currently unknown.

This work involves staff time from several departments including Planning and Development Services, Transportation and Mobility, City Attorney's Office, Business Licensing, and Community Vitality. Each department has unique workplan priorities that may be impacted. It is currently undetermined which priorities may be impacted or if additional staff will need to be hired to facilitate implementation of the proposed pilot program.



Approximately how much time would be needed to create (p. 4) "a holistic, broad, and intentional vision for downtown Boulder that would include the consideration of a permanent 'shared street' condition on the West end or, possibly, other streets in the downtown area."

Staff anticipates this initiative would be a multi-year initiative including workplan prioritization, funding, and implementation. The timeline is likely to be, at minimum, 3-5 years.



What concerns does our fire department have about the various options under consideration, if any? Public safety has been consulted throughout the creation and implementation of the Boulder Business Recovery Program to ensure adequate access can be maintained regardless of the various options being explored. Concerns generally revolve around efficient vehicle/outrigger apparatus access to any and all properties and nearby hydrants as well as overhead clearances for vehicle passage and rescue ladders.  Public safety will continue to be involved in the process moving forward.



Could the street closure and/or outdoor dining proposals go through the racial equity instrument in the coming months to see how emerging plans align with our racial equity goals? Yes



Do we have any demographics for survey respondents? If so, were there differences in the pattern of responses based on income, race/ethnicity, age, ability, etc.? The Outdoor Dining Survey included age range and business ownership data. We have not completed any cross tabulations based on this data. Due to the small and specific sample size limited to businesses operating within the West End closure, no demographic data was collected for the West End Closure Survey.



Some of the written responses in the restaurant and "other business" categories were identical (Attachment B; e.g., p. 59-60).

*        Were the same respondents responding in both categories? Some response overlap occurred because respondents could be business owners, visitors to the downtown area, as well as residents. A total of 836 unique responses were received for the Outdoor Dining Survey.

*        If so, were the same respondents counted more than once for the rating responses (e.g., those in Illustrations 1 and 2 in the memo)? In Illustration 1, responses for each category included all respondents who identified as being part of that category. In Illustration 2, only businesses responded as either a restaurant or other business type.

*        How many of the responses to the survey are from unique respondents? The Outdoor Dining Survey received 836 responses and the West End Closure received 47 responses.

Attachment C (p. 79) shows the characteristics of business respondents (restaurant, retail, tech, other). What proportion of all West Pearl businesses are restaurant, retail, other? Basically, how representative was the distribution of respondents?

A total of 110 businesses fall within the West End Closure Survey. Of the 110 businesses, 72 are office spaces. While offices make up 66% of the West End use, only 29% of the respondents were from businesses other than restaurants and retail.


Thank you!

Cris

Cris Jones
Interim Director

[CommVitality_lockup_COB]

O: 303-413-7302
jonesc at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:bowden at bouldercolorado.gov>

Community Vitality
1500 Pearl Street, Suite 302 | Boulder, CO 80302
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From: Speer, Nicole <SpeerN at bouldercolorado.gov>
Sent: Sunday, April 17, 2022 8:58 PM
To: HOTLINE <HOTLINE at bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: [BoulderCouncilHotline] Questions re: Item 6B (outdoor dining & west end vehicle closure)

Good evening, colleagues, staff, and Hotline readers,

I hope everyone who celebrated/is celebrating Ramadan, Passover, Vaisakhi, or Easter enjoyed/is enjoying their holiday.

Below are some questions I have regarding the outdoor dining and West End vehicle closure update (Item 6B). If possible, having even basic responses ("yes"/"no"/"maybe"/"don't know") or off the cuff estimates before our meeting would be helpful for me in answering the questions for council (p.2).

Staff time for the pilot program is expected to be "significant". Re: Table 4 (the decision matrix)

  1.  Approximately how much staff time is needed for the different options (including time needed to pursue funding opportunities such as grants)?
  2.  How much of an impact would it make to staff time needed if an ordinance change relaxed some of the use review requirements?
  3.  What are some examples of work we will be deciding not to pursue under these various options? In other words, what would staff be working on if not this?
Approximately how much time would be needed to create (p. 4) "a holistic, broad, and intentional vision for downtown Boulder that would include the consideration of a permanent 'shared street' condition on the West end or, possibly, other streets in the downtown area."

What concerns does our fire department have about the various options under consideration, if any?

Could the street closure and/or outdoor dining proposals go through the racial equity instrument in the coming months to see how emerging plans align with our racial equity goals?

Do we have any demographics for survey respondents? If so, were there differences in the pattern of responses based on income, race/ethnicity, age, ability, etc.?

Some of the written responses in the restaurant and "other business" categories were identical (Attachment B; e.g., p. 59-60).

  *   Were the same respondents responding in both categories?
  *   If so, were the same respondents counted more than once for the rating responses (e.g., those in Illustrations 1 and 2 in the memo)?
  *   How many of the responses to the survey are from unique respondents?
Attachment C (p. 79) shows the characteristics of business respondents (restaurant, retail, tech, other). What proportion of all West Pearl businesses are restaurant, retail, other? Basically, how representative was the distribution of respondents?

Thanks,
Nicole

Nicole Speer, Ph.D.
Boulder City Councilmember
Pronouns: she, her(s), ella

Phone: 303-519-9068

Web: bouldercolorado.gov/person/nicole-speer<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbouldercolorado.gov%2Fperson%2Fnicole-speer&data=04%7C01%7Cjonesc%40cityofboulder.mail.onmicrosoft.com%7Cbc4ac7f957d7466bdc7508da20e79822%7C0a7f94bb40af4edcafad2c1af27bc0f3%7C0%7C0%7C637858476341516511%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=q5MwpbEJvHmFfrJdSq2z%2FytN7AnNNOf%2BDKQOMMuatvY%3D&reserved=0>
Twitter: @SpeerBldrCC<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FSpeerBldrCC&data=04%7C01%7Cjonesc%40cityofboulder.mail.onmicrosoft.com%7Cbc4ac7f957d7466bdc7508da20e79822%7C0a7f94bb40af4edcafad2c1af27bc0f3%7C0%7C0%7C637858476341516511%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=wYeTN7CtdsX9j8xwM5fopHRnc7qc1a%2FYT8S3yjOWg2c%3D&reserved=0>

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