John Scarffe, Boulder County. During a joint meeting of the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners and the Boulder County Planning Commission on Thursday, May 30, 2018, county planning staff presented a proposed update to the county’s comprehensive plan on housing and economics. Staff members Long Range Planner’s Jose Ruano and Christy Wiseman said the purpose of the presentation is requesting feedback related to the proposed update on housing and economics.

Wiseman said the housing element of the comprehensive plan was last updated in 1983. Staff, the Commissioners and the Planning Commission (PC) identified the need for an update to the housing element within the last few years in light of current development conditions. 

Housing was the focus of a PC sub-committee convened fall 2017, following completion of the 2015 update to the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan. The element focuses heavily on the role and responsibilities of the Boulder County Housing Authority.

Staff has researched and gathered information to support the housing element update since that time. Boulder County has been affected by regional forces and has a lack of affordable housing, so staff wants to define the county’s role in addressing this issue, Wiseman said. Housing prices have been rising steadily and general costs are rising. People have to drive farther because they have to move farther out.

“The existing element does not provide policy guidance for housing topics at the forefront of current discussion in our region, such as accessory dwelling units (ADUs), short-term rentals (STRs), and agricultural worker housing,” according to background. In addition, language related to Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity housing laws is somewhat outdated and in need of revision.

“Overall, the housing element does not accurately recognize current development patterns and pressures in the county,” according to background. The objective is to reframe the existing element to be more land-use focused for issues the county is facing.

“Given the integral relationship between housing and the local economy, the housing and economics element updates are proceeding in tandem,” according to background. The existing economics element was created in 1987 and focuses on the relationship between unincorporated Boulder County and the municipalities. 

The element also recognizes the importance of the University of Colorado as well as the tourism and recreation industries. The draft updated element clarifies that the county is seeking to meet the economic needs of the community in a sustainable manner. 

The county seeks to strike a balance in its approach to the local economy, according to background. “The county supports agricultural and small businesses that can operate within the rural character and infrastructure of the unincorporated area of the county; these businesses complement the economic activity of the local municipalities that serve as hubs for the regional economy. 

“The updated element also recognizes the important role of the agricultural economy and the need to provide adequate services to support the health and safety of the county’s existing rural and remote communities.” Wiseman said the goal is to meet the needs of the community and take advantage of available resources.

Staff took a multi-pronged approach to collect public input on housing and economics topics for the housing and economics elements update process and hosted four open houses in different locations including Nederland and Allenspark. Staff also employed an outreach strategy that involved leveraging regularly scheduled meetings of local stakeholder groups. 

Rather than asking housing and economic-minded community members to attend a separate meeting focused solely on our BCCP updates, staff took relevant focus questions to audiences that were already meeting to discuss related topics, according to background. Staff continues to collect public input on housing and economics topics via an online comment form.

The first goal of the update is that Boulder County is an inclusive, culturally responsive community that values, respects and seeks to support the housing needs of all individuals while adhering to the Guiding Principles of the Comprehensive Plan, including diverse housing types and preservation of existing housing. For goal two, Boulder County supports strategic and collaborative interventions at the local, regional, state and federal levels to address the accessibility and preservation of affordable housing. 

Goal three will assure that Boulder County’s housing-related regulations and decisions reflect the county’s values and the Guiding Principles of the Comprehensive Plan, including structure rehabilitation, and the location of affordable housing. Goal four encourages Boulder County to actively engage and collaborate with stakeholders and partners to promote the values of affordable living and address the community’s housing needs. 

Ruano addressed the economics element. Goal one is balance that aligns with the values of the comprehensive plan, including inclusiveness and diversity, recreation, promoting climate change, the regional economy and the intersectionality of gender, race, agriculture and how they contribute to achieve a vital regional economy that aligns with the Guiding Principles of the Comprehensive Plan. 

Goal two states that Boulder County stewards its economy through sound regulations and collaboration and how the county conducts its economy and regulations. Goal three is to preserve and enhance local assets, and goal four is how we engage the public in fostering a vital regional economy.

During public comment, four county residents addressed the board and commission. Comments from Allenspark included that affordable housing needs to be considered in perpetuity to preserve the character of the county’s rural areas. About half of the homes in Allenspark could be rented. Businesses like Air B&B could change the character of Allenspark. 

Donna George said Boulder is number 17 on the list of the wealthiest cities in the nation. “When you are looking at these policies, are they going to benefit outside developers or the needs and wants of the citizens? Big businesses are making millions of dollars and the citizens are getting the shaft.” 

Staff asked the board and commission members if they had suggested changes for the draft economics element content. Suggestions included strategic investments that would support local farming. 

When asked how the board feels about adding a policy that recognizes the importance for buying local to reduce environmental impacts and support local economic vitality, suggestions included that staff talk to stakeholders and ask what’s stopping them from opening a restaurant in Niwot and focus on low hanging fruit. 

County Commissioner Matt Jones expressed concern about the policy that encourages public and private collaboration. Sometimes it makes sense and sometimes it doesn’t. The boards agreed on language that encourages partnerships, where it makes sense.

Jones asked if the plan includes any direction to guide us on Air B&B’s, and Wiseman said staff can work on that. Planning Commission Member Mark Bloomfield suggested including something for providing services to appropriate areas and in smaller municipalities and diversity for them, so we’re decreasing vehicle miles and travels because services are available in local areas.

Wiseman asked about locations of affordable housing in remote areas, and potentially including more housing language in IGAs with county municipalities. It could depend on the municipality, areas for annexation and should we have policy guidance to push more on housing affordability, some kind of zoning to incorporate more affordable housing policies for IGAs.

Board Chair Elise Jones said this is like the IGA they are already working with in Nederland. Planning Commission member Sam Libby said they need to reflect the interest the county has in the future expansion of a municipality and a policy that encourages affordable housing.

Planning Commission member Sam Finch said that staff did a good job on focusing on affordable housing and accessory dwelling units for workers during the season. “We need a lot more study about committing dwelling units, and should we be applying city standards for outside of the city and for the mountains. 

“They face real differences there in terms of fire protection and things that might be different in the agricultural part of the county and things that make sense for a community like Niwot. We should be more flexible on definitions of a single family. It’s a big issue. The county’s role is to be supportive and involved in collaboration and working with people on housing that exists.”

Jones said he would like more definition and that we actively discourage short-term rentals. “We do it on a complaint basis, and there is a lot of this going on.” Commissioner Deb Gardner said they’ve heard from folks that town’s face a change in character because of the quantity of STRs and wants to add a phrase about safety or character so they can have other criteria they could use to evaluate whether it is appropriate.

After stakeholder review and draft revision, staff will bring this back to the County Commission in late summer or early fall. To read the entire plan update, go to: http://bouldercountyco.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=3243&Inline=True. 

(Originally published in the June 6, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)