Boulder officials are working to change existing residential zoning laws in hopes of making housing more affordable as home prices continue to rise.
The Boulder’s City Council on Thursday discussed some additional changes to its zoning laws beyond what the council approved last fall as part of the city’s Zoning for Affordable Housing project. The changes were meant to remove zoning barriers to building more affordable and modest-size housing in Boulder.
While last fall’s zoning changes didn’t represent an overhaul of Boulder’s zoning policies, they did include changing many of the standards – making it easier for developers to build townhouse complexes, duplexes and triplexes in certain zones. Officials also modified density calculation requirements to allow more housing.
But the conversation about zoning didn’t end there. Although the council passed an ordinance last fall to adopt the zoning changes, council members at the time made several other suggestions of other possible zoning changes they were interested in exploring.
Karl Guiler, a senior policy adviser for Boulder, told the Daily Camera ahead of Thursday’s meeting that city staffers had analyzed the council’s suggestions, and their findings had shown some areas of opportunity for more housing to be built.
“If we use a gross density calculation, there’s quite a bit of room to make changes to add more housing,” he said. “… But (council members) have to give us their policy read on what is consistent with the (Boulder Valley Comprehensive) Plan.”
During the meeting, Guiler gave a presentation detailing the council members’ suggestions and staffers’ findings. Some of the ideas council members pitched included finding ways to add more density in lower, medium and mixed-density residential zones. Mixed-density zones include areas near downtown, such as the Goss-Grove neighborhood, where single-family homes and apartment buildings exist side by side.
According to the presentation, city staffers supported adding density in these zones.
At Thursday’s meeting, Guiler said the community has given mixed feedback about proposed zoning changes. People in favor of opportunities to add more housing have said proposed changes could allow more people to find housing in Boulder or continue living in the city.
Some people who opposed or were cautious about building more housing expressed skepticism that increasing the housing supply would actually make housing more affordable, particularly because demand is so high. Some residents in single-family areas were concerned about increasing density or adding more housing types in their neighborhoods.
Council members asked questions of city staff and talked about the possible zoning changes, but they did not conclude their discussion before the Daily Camera’s print deadline.
