September 4, 2015

Editorial: Boulder voters should reject ballot measures

Please, Boulder residents, don’t be fooled by catchy ballot titles.

Balancing economic vitality and community sensibilities can be a difficult task, especially when emotions run high over a rapid string of new developments. That’s the case in Boulder, where community activists have proposed draconian limits on new developments.

Voters in November will decide whether to support two ballot measures that would sharply limit new development in the city. The first — “Neighborhoods’ Right to Vote on Land Use Regulations” — would grant neighborhoods the right to vote on zoning changes relating to building height, floor areas, occupancy limits and other factors. The second ballot measure — “Development Shall Pay Its Own Way” — prohibits the city from approving developments that do not “pay their own way,” removing any discretion on the part of city leaders to adjust fees based on community need.

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Both measures are responses to a flurry of new developments within the city. Some residents have witnessed the rapid pace of projects ranging from redevelopment of the former Daily Camera location at 10th and Pearl streets to the emerging cluster of residential, retail and hotel uses at Boulder Junction, Google’s new campus in central Boulder and redevelopment of the northwest corner of 28th Street and Canyon Boulevard — and they worry that too much is happening, too fast.

What is lost in this conversation is that demand had been pent up during the Great Recession, pushing a number of projects to come on line at once. That has meant that residents have not had time to absorb new projects at a more measured pace.

Some residents even have pointed to Boulder Junction as what should be prevented in the future. But redevelopment of an underused area, with higher densities and transit-oriented development, should be encouraged, not discouraged.

The two ballot measures that voters will face this fall represent devastating blows to representative government. Residents already control the direction of the city through election of city council representatives. That’s where these decisions should lie.

Business in Boulder already is bearing many additional burdens, including development height restrictions, mandatory recycling and affordable-housing impact fees. Add in concerns over utility municipalization, a possible head tax and other measures, and one can appreciate business’ admonition that “enough is enough.”

Please, Boulder residents, don’t be fooled by catchy ballot titles.

Balancing economic vitality and community sensibilities can be a difficult task, especially when emotions run high over a rapid string of new developments. That’s the case in Boulder, where community activists have proposed draconian limits on new developments.

Voters in November will decide whether to support two ballot measures that would sharply limit new development in the city. The first — “Neighborhoods’ Right to Vote on Land Use Regulations” — would grant neighborhoods the right to vote on zoning changes relating to building height, floor areas,…

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