It’s not clear what, exactly, the city will do in early April when the 2015 moratorium on taller buildings in many areas of Boulder expires.
During a joint study session of the City Council and Planning Board on Tuesday night, the ordinance’s extension did not appear to be a sure thing. Only four of the nine council members supported extending the 2015 policy. Four others said they were unsure. Planning Board members were more strongly in favor, but also not settled as to how a potentially renewed ordinance would look.
“I think it’s very clear from the discussion here, as well as with Planning Board,” said Susan Richstone, the interim (and soon-to-retire) director of planning, housing and sustainability, “that even if someone supports extending the ordinance, that there are some areas that it needs to be tweaked and amended.”
A voter-approved charter amendment from 1971 caps building height in Boulder at 55 feet. Twenty Ninth Street is excepted, having received an exemption from voters due to slope issues and a desire to see the former Crossroads Mall site redeveloped.
In most parts of the city, zoning caps building heights at 35 feet. The limit is 38 feet downtown and 40 feet in most industrial areas. Property owners can request a height modification up to 55 feet — but until April 2017, the city agreed nearly two years ago, those modification requests would only be considered in certain areas.
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