Boulder City Council
On Jan. 9, council will:
- Vote to locally permit and regulate natural medicine healing centers in adherence to Colorado Senate Bill 23-290, which decriminalized psychedelic drugs for medicinal use and created a regulatory body for healing centers wishing to use the drugs in therapeutic settings. The proposed ordinance requires healing centers to be located 500 feet away from middle, junior and high schools.
City staff are recommending the ordinance be passed on an emergency vote, requiring a two-thirds majority of council. Laws passed on emergency go into effect 30 days from the vote. The state plans to begin issuing healing center licenses in February and March.
- Hold a public hearing on and vote to implement the Family Friendly Vibrant Neighborhoods project, which would amend city codes to allow for higher housing density in mixed residential and rural zoned areas. The project is intended to create more middle housing — affordable, often multi-family homes in walkable neighborhoods — which currently makes up only 9% of Boulder’s housing stock, according to the city.
The proposed amendments would reduce the density standard of one unit per 6,000 square foot lot to 2,500 square feet in mixed residential zones, one unit per 3,000 square foot lot to 2,000 square feet in medium residential zones, and allow more duplexes in rural residential zones along bus corridors.
This meeting will be held virtually. To speak during the public hearing, register here: bit.ly/FamilyHoodsHearingBW.
On Jan. 16, council will:
- Hold a public hearing during a site review for the proposed construction at the St Julien Hotel. The 55-foot tall structure will be approximately 50,000 square feet, adding a meeting space, mechanical mezzanine and an upper level of hotel rooms that will be attached to the existing St Julien building.
Boulder County Commissioners
On Jan. 7, commissioners:
- Adopted the final report from the U.S. 287 Vision Zero Safety & Mobility Study, which examined mobility needs and addressed safety issues along a 24-mile stretch of road from Broomfield to Longmont. From 2011-2020, 34 died along this section of highway — more than any other road in Boulder County.
The study recommends a number of safety improvements, including speed reduction in targeted areas, adjustments to traffic signals and construction of a center median barrier along two sections of the highway where crashes were disproportionately higher than others.
Longmont City Council
On Jan. 7, council:
- Discussed the necessity of council liaison roles to the city’s 22 citizen-based boards and commissions during an informal pre-session. Councilmembers agreed that there is value in attending the meetings as liaisons, however several representatives, including at-large member Sean McCoy, said that attending meetings for some boards could be limited to once a quarter. No official decision regarding liaison roles was made.
On Jan. 8:
- The application period for the vacant Ward 2 city council seat closed at 5 p.m. The city is released a complete list of applicants Thursday, Jan. 9. In all, 22 residents applied for the vacancy and the city clerk has verified that 13 of the applicants meet the qualifications for the position. The other nine applicants either do not qualify, or have yet to be qualified, according to the city's website.
Among the qualified applicants are Devin Edgley, policy program specialist for the Boulder Chamber of Commerce, Steve Altschuler, who ran for an at-large seat on city council in 2023, former councilmember Pauline Christensen, former councilmemeber Sarah Levison and Longmont Planning and Zoning commissioner Matthew Popkin. For a complete list of applicants visit the city's website.
Qualified applicants will be interviewed at the Jan. 21 meeting, where council will then appoint a Ward 2 representative to serve the remaining 11 months of Marcia Martin’s term, who resigned on Dec. 31 after participating remotely from New York for more than six months.
Lafayette City Council
On Jan. 7, council:
- Reviewed the results of the 2024 Small Business Capital Grant Program. The program was created to provide small businesses with matching grants to improve the interior or exterior of their buildings; $100,000 was allocated to 22 projects.
- Approved an ordinance allowing planning staff to review and approve building additions and new accessory buildings that do not exceed a 10% floor area increase without planning commission or city council approval.
- Approved a resolution stating that a petition for annexation of 10538 Arapahoe Road, a 35-acre parcel of land at the southwest corner of Arapahoe Road and U.S. 287, is in substantial compliance with the Colorado Municipal Annexation Act of 1965.The petition was filed by Kensington Development Group on behalf of local property owner Stephen Tebo.
An annexation eligibility hearing is set for Feb. 18.
- Held an executive session to discuss collective bargaining negotiations with the employees of the police and fire departments.
Louisville City Council
On Jan. 6, council:
- Announced four finalists for the city manager position. The candidates include Jay Harrington, County Manager for Routt County, Colorado, Diana Langley, City Manager for Yuba City, California, Sara Ott, City Manager for Aspen, Colorado, and Jason Rodgers, City Manager for Commerce City, Colorado.
On Jan. 7, council:
- Met in executive session to conduct annual performance evaluations for the municipal judge, prosecuting attorney and city attorney.
- Approved tax breaks for targeted businesses, an extension of the city’s existing Business Assistance Program (BAP). This is a coordinated program with Boulder County and the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) for targeted industries such as aerospace, bioscience and natural products.
All agenda items subject to change. Karen Norback and Mark Cathcart contributed reporting.