City to research University Hill solutions

BOULDER» The City Council late Tuesday night gave the approval necessary for city staffers to begin researching solutions that might prevent another out-of-control gathering on University Hill.

While the discussion was inspired by the events of March 6, where hundreds gathered on the Hill, flipping cars, injuring first responders and ignoring demands to disperse, University Hill residents have long voiced concerns about behavior in the neighborhood.

“There’s clearly a strong need and desire to make concrete changes that will improve conditions on the Hill,” said Lisa Nelson, a University Hill resident and member of the city’s Hill Revitalization Working Group.

Before any official work begins, Interim City Manger Chris Meschuk and City Attorney Tom Carr said staffers will need to scope the project and return with an idea of a timeline and some potential work that might need to be pushed or rearranged to prioritize this project.

Either way, the city intends to lean on the work of the Hill Revitalization Working Group, which formed in 2015, as it moves forward.

Council members Rachel Friend and Mark Wallach took the lead on this effort when the pair last week shared that they intended to request the nod of five. While this permits staffers to begin researching ideas, it doesn’t guarantee a specific timeline.

“What we’re looking for is the initiation of a process that’s going to proactively address these issues holistically and to provide some degree of … hope,” Wallach said Tuesday.

“We’re not advocating for seven specific solutions so much as we need the resources to put people together to analyze those solutions and maybe come up with better ones,” he added.

However, before Tuesday’s meeting, the two City Council members did provide a number of potential suggestions, including better enforcement of the city’s current codes or new ordinances altogether.

Council members largely agreed that, when approaching the problem, there are three prongs to consider: the University of Colorado, the city and landlords.

Instead of saying no to everything, Friend suggested that it could make sense to provide specific times, venues or instances where people can be noisy or up late.

Council member Mary Young suggested that officers with the Boulder Police Department and the CU police could try a targeted, hot spot approach on the Hill, similar to the one Boulder has undertaken to address crime downtown.

Likewise, Council member Bob Yates said he could envision a community ambassador program on the Hill similar to one that will be piloted downtown.

Friend acknowledged that the problems that led to hundreds gathering, largely without masks, on University Hill on March 6 are not new and that the outdoor party that turned destructive was not a surprise to many Hill residents.

“It was sort of an escalation and culmination of some things that they deal with day to day and have been advocating for some solutions that they think could help,” she said.

Nelson agreed. In open comment, she said it’s the second time she’s spent hours in the dark on the floor of her home waiting for the SWAT team to arrive “in response to a violent and dangerous mob rioting directly outside my front door.” She had a similar experience in 2004 when a Halloween block party turned into a riot after officers intervened.

While most City Council members on Tuesday indicated support for increased enforcement, Council member Junie Joseph said she had some hesitation about that proposal.

“I am slightly concerned about over-policing the Hill, which might have unintended consequences,” she said.