Boulder City Council
On Thursday, May 1, council:
• Unanimously approved plans for a research and development campus in Flatiron Park, reversing a denial by the city’s Planning Board.
The 9.87-acre site at 1855 S. Flatiron Court will include 207,011 square feet of building space. The applicant is California-based BioMed Realty, a portfolio company of private equity behemoth Blackstone.
The 3-3 Planning Board vote denied the application; ties are considered a failure to affirmatively support a project. Member Mason Roberts was absent, but in a letter to city council detailed his concerns that the campus did not conform with the city’s site review criteria or the East Boulder Subcommunity Plan, adopted in 2022 to guide redevelopment of the mostly industrial community to allow for more housing and retail, such as restaurants.
BioMed’s proposal does not include any housing — the real estate investment firm focuses on life science and tech spaces — and “allocates only 0.3% of its total square footage to commercial space — a single small café” of 600 square feet, Roberts wrote.
Roberts and another board member, Laura Kaplan, detailed other deficiencies in letters to council, including design issues; not providing alternatives to car travel for eventual workers; and inadequate connections to the South Boulder Creek multi-use path that crosses the eastern edge of the property.
Kaplan suggested council require the public bike path and public access through the center of the campus — a plaza-like space referred to as "the Ramble." An earlier design included a central bike path, Kaplan wrote.
"Relocating the bike path back through the Ramble would solve the project’s challenges with criterion ... that requires that defined entries connect the building to the public realm. (In the current design, all the building entries face a private interior courtyard and do not face the public realm.)"
City staff found that the project did meet Boulder's site review requirements. The approval will last nine years, another concession approved by council that the Planning Board rejected at its Feb. 18 meeting.
In his letter to council, Roberts said the approval would create a precedent for future developments.
“Do our neighborhood plans and site review criteria carry weight, or are they merely aspirational documents?” Roberts wrote. “If this project proceeds despite its inconsistencies with established plans and criteria, it undermines the community’s extensive efforts and investments in shaping East Boulder’s future … [and signals] to property owners that deviations from the plan are acceptable.”
On Thursday, May 15, council will:
• Receive an update on its child-friendly cities initiative, including a presentation of the draft action plan. Read more
Lafayette City Council
On Friday, May 9, council will:
• Be at Festival Plaza (311 S. Public Road) from 5:30-8:30 p.m. for an informal chat with residents during Art Night Out. Bring your questions and concerns. The Chat with Council booth is located across from the beer ID tent on the west side of Public Road and Chester Street.
Town of Superior
On Thursday, May 8:
• Staff from the town’s planning and building department will host a panel discussion on housing from 6-7 p.m. at Town Hall (124 E. Coal Creek Drive). The event is part of an update to the comprehensive plan, a document that guides development, transportation, economic activity and more for 10-20 years in Superior.
Learn more: shapesuperior.com/comprehensive-plan
All agenda items are subject to change.