[BoulderCouncilHotline] 6500 Arapahoe

[Wallach, Mark]

As I will be unable to attend tomorrow’s meeting, I have just a couple of comments regarding the annexation of 6500 Arapahoe:


  1.  Given the number of emails to Council regarding this subject, I  once again have to question the efficacy of our public engagement process. In fact, one individual stated that the meeting she attended was more in the way of announcement than meaningful engagement. Either we are not communicating effectively and to the proper individuals or no one is paying attention until we are very far down the road to taking action. Or both. We need to review these processes and see if we can do this better.
  2.  One of the lessons of this negotiation is that any common sense provision can, in fact, be negotiated. We were told that there was simply no way to incorporate into the Annexation Agreement a provision that BVSD would adhere to Boulder’s height limitations. Could not be done. Would require BVSD to go back to square one and re-approve the entire transaction. It was not possible. And then – like a Christmas Miracle! – the latest draft contains that exact language, lifted verbatim from the CU South Annexation Agreement.  I applaud staff for going the extra mile and negotiating the appropriate language.
  3.  I believe in the power of accommodation. There are only a very few issues (such as voting rights, or women’s reproductive rights) where accommodation is not the appropriate course of action. In the case of this annexation we have heard a number of complaints from the adjacent neighbors. Perhaps the most common complaint revolves around the potential noise of the facility. At the very least we should be addressing this issue and providing some accommodation to those neighbors. It is simply not satisfactory to identify something as A Good Cause (as creating affordable housing surely is) and using that designation to roll over all other considerations. I look to my colleagues and staff  to address this and other concerns. It is not satisfactory to simply tell residents that any inconvenience or diminution in their ability to comfortably reside in their homes is the price they must pay for inadvertently living near this facility, because it is in service of a Good Cause.


Everyone, have a good meeting.
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