Letter to City Council
January 16, 20167
Dear Mayor Jones and Members of the Boulder City Council:
The Executive Committee of the University Hill Neighborhood Association (UHNA) would like to thank City Council members for the efforts you have undertaken over the past few years to support the Hill Revitalization Strategy for the Hill Commercial District (adopted in 2014) and to address 1) over-occupancy through a commitment to increased enforcement and 2) the quality of life impacts table games have on our neighborhood through a commitment to increased education (landlords and students) and enforcement.
Woo Hoo! 2016 was another very positive year for our neighborhood. Significant progress has been made through the continued efforts related to the Hill Reinvestment Strategy. The headline in the Business section of the 12.7.2016 Boulder Daily Camera tells the story: University Hill sales tax revenue surges 30 percent! Two of the three Hill Projects funded by the 2A Ballot Initiative are complete (Street Tree Irrigation and Pedestrian Scale Lighting along key pedestrian corridors) and we enthusiastically look forward to the upcoming ground breaking for the construction of the Event Street on Pennsylvania!
COOP ORDINANCE: Over-occupancy of homes and multi-family buildings on the Hill continues to be a major concern of our long-term residents, because of all the attendant problems, such as parking, noise, and litter. We appreciate your continued commitment to enforcement of the occupancy regulations and are cautiously optimistic the recently passed Coop Ordinance will have a positive impact on our University Hill neighborhood, by formalizing the process and establishing the “ground rules” for the formation of Coops that address the problems identified above.
DISPROPORTIONATE PERCENTAGE OF RENTAL PROPERTIES TO SINGLE- FAMILY/OWNER OCCUPIED HOMES continues to become more and more lop-sided towards student rentals. Single-family homes are being converted to investment properties at a frightening pace because they are significantly more valuable as rentals. This in turn has forced families to look elsewhere for housing as they just can’t compete with the high prices. We ask Council to be mindful that the Hill and the City of Boulder will benefit from a demographic mix in the Hill neighborhood that promotes stability, preserves the neighborhood’s character and historic assets and creates conditions for permanent residents and students to build positive relationships. We ask Council, in 2017, to support planning policies that slow student housing “creep” and to promote policies that encourage more owner-occupied properties and make it easier and more attractive for young families, especially CU faculty and staff, to buy in the neighborhood. Most students come to live on the Hill unaware that permanent residents of all ages, some with deep historical roots, live on the Hill and care deeply about their neighborhood. Council and residents of the Hill neighborhood must work together with CU to correct this misconception. We must expand our work with CU to address these issues cooperatively and encourage CU to house their continually expanding enrollment in places other than the Hill.
POTENTIAL SALE OF UNIVERSITY HILL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TO CU is a huge concern and potential threat to this beloved neighborhood treasure. There has been a total lack of transparency, despite our repeated requests for information over the past many months. We urge the City Council to become involved. (See www.unihillschoolfuture.org to read more.)
REVITALIZATION OF THE HILL BUSINESS DISTRICT continues to be of major interest to the neighborhood. The neighborhood is invested in the creation of a variety of land uses to bring a more diverse year-round clientele to the area which will, in turn, foster a healthy, vibrant business district.
That said, we urge you to:
Support the efforts underway to entitle and build a boutique hotel on the Hill in conjunction with the Pleasant Street UHGID parking lot site. The hotel use on this “catalyst” site will most definitely create the critical mass to encourage continued investments on the Hill. Additional public parking as a part of this project will attract a wide variety of businesses, most particularly professional offices. (We just lost Grenadier because of lack of parking and expansion space.)
As a result of the Hill Reinvestment Strategy a RFQ has been issued for an Urban Design Consultant to develop an Alley Enhancement Master Plan for selected alleys in the Hill Commercial District. We urge council to place the extension of the 2A Community, Culture and Safety Tax in a 2017 Ballot Initiative and include the costs for the Alley Enhancement project in the extended tax request. This tax has reaped significant benefits for the Hill and the Alley Enhancement Project will make significant inroads to “cleaning up” and utilizing underutilized space. thereby further foster a healthy, vibrant business district.
The Executive Committee has reviewed the UHCAMC’s 2017 responses to the questions from City Council for your upcoming retreat and are in full support of their priorities.
We have come a long way and are excited about the continued opportunities for protecting and revitalizing one of Boulder’s most unique and beloved places. The foundation has been laid, investments are being made but much work remains to be done to ensure the investments (public and private) will not have been made in vain. Thank you for your time and consideration in addressing these issues. And please visit our new and improved UHNA website (www.hillneighbors.com)!
Kind Regards,
UHNA-EC
Nancy Blackwood
Scott Thomas
Beanne Rothenberg
Lori Schuler
Stephen Clark
Andrea Clark