BOULDER — Those who look to Boulder County and imagine a dream home nestled on the edge of the mountains may need to either scale down their dreams or come up with some extra cash under a plan commissioners are debating.
Commissioners are struggling to find middle ground between residents who want to live in spacious luxury and ones who want to retain the character of their communities.
“The bottom line is that their proposal is nuts,” said Katrina Peterson, who owns a home 6 miles outside of Nederland. “The whole thing is misguided.”
Under the plan as of now — and the numbers aren’t final — the owner of a home on the plains could enlarge to 6,000 square feet, while homes in the mountains could be 4,000 square feet.
Want more space?
The plan would let a homeowner buy “credits” from neighbors who live in homes smaller than the limit. With those credits, they could build a home larger than the limits.
“It’s unfair and inequitable,” Peterson said. “The program is still regressive. It’s not going to reduce house sizes in the county because those who are wealthy enough to buy credits get to build.”
And she said the plan essentially steals equity from homeowners who buy the credits seeking to add value to their homes.
Boulder County commissioners met Monday to discuss the proposal, which has been in the works for nearly three years.
Michelle Krezek, manager of special projects for Boulder County, said the proposal is more about providing sustainability than limiting house size.
“We have been seeing house sizes increase and older homes replaced by them since late 2006,” Krezek said. “It was time to develop a plan.”
She said the credit plan is meant to let owners of small homes get some financial benefit when their neighbors build a big house.
But even residents like Nick Conda of Marshall, who lives in a modest home on the land his family homesteaded, isn’t so sure the county is doing the right thing.
“The county has too much control over property owners’ rights,” Conda said.
“If the house fits in the neighborhood, then people should be able to do what they want.”
Anna Haislip: 303-954-1638 or ahaislip@denverpost.com
