Developable land scarce in Boulder, small parcels left

BOULDER The city of Boulder has plenty of open space in its parks and mountains, but developable open space is a different story.

There are a little more than a dozen significant vacant land parcels left within or nearby the city that could be developed, the Boulder County Business Report found. This does not include the numerous redevelopment opportunities of existing development.

The largest vacant properties are north and south of the city, within unincorporated Boulder County.

About 350 acres of vacant land with various parcels and owners sit along 28th Street northeast of Jay Road. The city and county have designated the land type Area III, in which the city could request annexation for development or rural preservation. Such a move only can come every five years when the governments jointly update the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan.

Three years ago Boulder-based Palmos Development Corp. attempted to annex its 23 acres in Area III for a mixed-used, big-box retail development. The city denied the developer’s request, and the land remains in Area III.

In South Boulder, The University of Colorado owns about 300 acres of vacant land southeast of Table Mesa Drive and U.S. 36. The land is designated type Area IIB, in which the city could annex but doesn’t plan to in the near future. CU plans to use the property for future expansions of the university.

Throughout the rest of the city, there are fewer than a dozen properties with 10 to 45 contiguous acres of vacant developable land.

Some of those properties already are in the planning stage to fill the vacancy, such as in East Boulder. On 30 acres at 5980 and 6234 Arapahoe Road, the Weaver Family Foundation has proposed plans for the Boulder Jewish Commons a mixed-use project with a community center, synagogue and elderly housing. The land sits half in the city and half in the county’s type Area IIA designation, in which the city plans to annex within the next three years.

Western Disposal Inc., the city’s trash collection service, has a similar situation with 45 acres of its vacant land within the city at 2655 N. 63rd St. and 11 acres of vacant land within the county, designated Area IIA.

Western Disposal President Gary Horton said the 45 acres within the city is partly being used as a compost yard, but in the future might be used for a construction and demolition facility and a possible industrial park.

“Realtors need not call,” Horton said. “We’re still far off from plans.”

Western Disposal is working to get the other 11 acres in the county annexed into the city. It has agreed to give four acres to the city and plans to sell the remaining seven acres to Special Transit, a Boulder-based nonprofit transportation service for the elderly and handicapped.

Next to the East Boulder Recreation Center, local developer Michael Boyers owns about 22 acres of vacant land in the county, also designated type IIA. He has put in an application to annex the land into Boulder and build about 130 homes called Boulder Creek Commons.

At the confluence of Foothills Parkway and the Diagonal Highway there is about 20 acres of vacant land, which is owned by Randy Bjerke at Birch Mountain Limited Liability Co. In 2006 Bjerke proposed a new development of about 340 home and 35,000 square feet of retail. After the initial application the city said it has heard little back from the developer.

The other significant vacant lands within the city are located in the Gunbarrel neighborhood in northeast Boulder.

Celestial Seasonings, the Boulder-based tea company, owns about 17.2 acres of vacant land next to its headquarters. Health-care technology company Covidien also owns a parcel next door of about seven acres. Throughout the rest of Gunbarrel, various vacant parcels owned by various owners total about 50 acres.

Other vacant lands may exist throughout the rest of the city, but sometimes it is tough to identify them, said Boulder Long Range Planner Chris Meschuk. There could be one small building or a parking lot on mostly vacant property, and the city’s computers see that as developed, he said.

Contact David Clucas at 303-440-4950 or dclucas@bcbr.com.

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