CHARETTE OR CHARADE?
I’m a neighbor who lives but a few hundred feet away from the Bohn Farm project, and I was shocked that you would print Kaylee Harter’s one-sided account of the developer’s plans and the charrette process.
Her article contains a half-dozen or so quotes from the developer, charrette proponents and those in favor of increased density throughout the area and just one general comment from a neighbor who was dissatisfied with the process. She could have reported that about 15 or more neighbors spoke in opposition to the proposed 70-unit project which is a 100% greater density from the surrounding neighborhood. Fewer than six spoke in favor of the proposal.
The developer has been calling for three-story townhomes and condos while the majority of surrounding homes are one story. The Bohn Farm Neighbors’ position calling for 46 or fewer units is a 50% increase of the surrounding density. Is that not a compromise? However, the developer has never wavered from his call for 65 to 70 units, yet neighbors are portrayed as inflexible.
Mark Young’s stipulation that only four neighbors in favor of more density and four opposed to the 70 units could participate in the second series of charrettes — in addition to members of his development team and a half-dozen architects — left little chance that the four opposing neighbors would be heard. That was my experience in the April charrette in which I had participated.
Why do neighbors desire less density in their historic neighborhood? Young’s proposal would feed all traffic onto adjacent “local” Spruce Avenue and Sherman Street which, at 28 feet across, are undersized compared to the City’s code of requiring 34-foot width for new streets. Feeder and collector streets are blocks away. My own home has a stone and steel horse tie out front to accommodate vehicles from a less-congested era.
Furthermore, Young’s most recent plan was actually submitted to Longmont Planning and Zoning prior to the most recent series of charrettes described by Harter. Charrette or CHARADE?
As a regular, long-time reader, an article that sounds like [a] press release is not what I have come to expect from the Boulder Weekly. Given the unusual updates and events from the City of Longmont on page 13, I can only ask “What’s up?”
— John Loughran / Longmont
MAYOR MISTAKE
In the Aug. 31, 2023 edition of the Boulder Weekly, Junie Joseph endorsed Nicole Speer and said we “have the opportunity to elect our first woman mayor.” Boulder has had several women mayors, beginning with Ruth Correll, who was the first female mayor of Boulder, elected in 1978. Then there was Linda Jourgensen, mayor of Boulder from 1986-1990, Leslie Durgin, mayor from March 1990-Nov. 1997, Susan Osborne, mayor from 2009-2011, and finally and most recently, Suzanne Jones.
All were excellent mayors. And while I definitely would love seeing more females in positions of power, I won’t vote for someone just because of their sex but rather for where they stand on various topics and what ideas they have for our future.
— Lise Cordsen / Boulder
