City Council hears presentation on DSAPS
Members also discusses zoning for affordable housing
The Boulder City Council spent the first portion of its study session Thursday evening discussing the Downtown Streets as Public Spaces (DSAPS) project — an endeavor aimed at engaging the public to “reimagine downtown streets as welcoming spaces to gather, attend events and connect with Boulder,” according to the project website.
The goal of the DSAPS project is to propose at least one “popup” location in downtown where new ideas for public space can be tested. The project is expected to bring cultural events, public art and other programming to downtown streets by spring of this year, and by the end of 2023, it will culminate in recommendations for long-term changes to downtown Boulder’s streets.
“The primary goal of this program is really thinking about how to transform roads into gathering places for people,” said Brett Merriam, a project manager with urban design firm Gehl.
“We know loud and clear that Boulder is interested in thinking about how to create more community minded spaces and thinking about using the roadway as kind of a lever to start to add that capacity to a city with more community focused space, and in doing so create the opportunity for people to gather and share joyful experiences together.”
The idea of repurposing city streets for public use was partly sparked by vehicular street closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the closure of West Pearl Street to auto traffic. Although those closures ended last fall, the community has expressed a strong interest in having more public space in downtown Boulder.
Brad Mueller, director of planning and development services for the city of Boulder, gave a presentation along with several consultants on short-term and
long-term possibilities for the project, public feedback received so far and recommendations for next steps.
According to Amanda Cole, a consultant for the project with Leadline Project Management, 86% of respondents surveyed said the temporary change of use of the street on West Pearl increased the appeal of the area. However, a memo for the study session said members of the public also said they were concerned about safety downtown and the possibility of harming businesses by closing streets to vehicle traffic.
Others in attendance at the meeting, such as Chip, CEO of the Downtown Boulder Partnership, emphasized the need to bring businesses into the conversation.
“It seems to me that the business community, particularly on the West End, has been in the position of feeling like things are being done to them, rather than being part of the conversation of what we can do to support the West and support the community with,” Chip said. “I don’t feel like the business communities have been felt completely engaged in how to do this. … There’s conversations to be had.”
Additionally, it’s not yet clear where the funding from this project would come from. The memo stated that the consultants’ recommendations for the project were created with an eye for balancing community interest with available resources, but that the recommendations “are made without a full analysis of fiscal implications and require funding that has not yet been identified.”
Several councilmembers expressed concern about the financial impact of this project, as well as whether it would be prudent to wait until next year to pursue some pieces of the project rather than moving forward with them this year.
Councilmember Nicole Speer also addressed the need to engage with members of the public who don’t often come downtown, particularly those who in a survey said they didn’t feel “welcome” in downtown spaces.
“I’m … interested in bringing a more diverse group of people downtown,” Speer said. “And I really want to use the process of creating more events and activating new spaces as one that in itself is strengthening relationships and building community with groups that currently feel excluded.”
Proposed locations for pop-ups include West Pearl Street and 13th Street. The project also proposes to bring “parklets,” which can include areas for seating, activities and transportation, to downtown spaces.
Later in the study session, City Council discussed zoning for affordable housing. Karl Guiler, Senior Policy Advisor for the city of Boulder, gave a presentation advocating for removing zoning barriers on density limits to allow more housing to be built in certain areas. Such a move, Guiler said, would increase the amount of deed-restricted homes in Boulder and create more housing inventory in the city.
Guiler presented several options for building more affordable housing in the city, such as allowing more duplexes or attached housing types in neighborhoods traditionally filled with single-family homes.
Guiler also said he had spoken with members of the public about the idea of removing density restrictions, with some residents “interested in” this code change and others “opposed to or cautious of the changes.” One critique he cited was the idea that a higher demand for housing in Boulder would only drive more expensive housing.
By the time of the Daily Camera’s publishing deadline, city councilmembers were just beginning to ask questions and debate the merits of the proposal. Guiler said he aims to bring this issue before City Council in September.
Early in Thursday’s study session, City Manager Nuria Rivera-vandermyde also provided an update on recent propane tank explosions in the city, noting that there had been three such incidents within the past week, that numerous residents had expressed concern about them and that the city was taking measures to intervene and prevent future incidents.
“We take such incidents seriously and are actively investigating ways to improve current response efforts to adapt to the evolving challenges surrounding unsanctioned campsites,” Rivera-vandermyde said at the meeting.