The Boulder City Council discussed some big-ticket issues – from homelessness to transportation, public safety to how to create a vibrant local economy – on the first day of its two-day 2024 retreat.
In Boulder, council retreats are typically held biennially to discuss and agree on policy priorities for the next two years. On Wednesday, the council and city staff members gathered at the Municipal Services Center, 5050 Pearl St., and kicked off this year’s retreat with statements from each council member about visions for the city.
Several council members, including Ryan Schuchard and Matthew Benjamin, said they want to create a more safe and sustainable transportation system in Boulder. Schuchard and Mayor Aaron Brockett both expressed interest in eliminating parking minimums.
Schuchard added that he would like to see Boulder adopt a more broad and holistic climate policy that would guide land use and transportation decisions as well as codifying citywide emissions reduction targets.
For numerous council members, affordability and housing appeared to be top-of-mind. Councilmember Tina Marquis said she’d like to see more middle-income housing in the city, while Councilmember Mark Wallach suggested the group should consider subsidizing some housing.
“We need to begin a serious, no-ideological conversation about our housing crisis and addressing affordability,” Wallach said. “Yesterday’s multiple listing service showed three homes on the market for $750,000 or less, and showed 31 for $5 million or more. This is obscene. We need to understand that the private sector will never fulfill our affordability needs.”
Benjamin and Mayor Pro Tem Nicole Speer both said they’re interested in increasing pay for council members so that serving on the council can be more accessible to a wider range of people.
“Fair pay for council won’t be a panacea, but it will at least allow us to maybe take one’s personal economics off the table in terms of whether or not they want to choose to serve this community,” Benjamin said during the meeting.
Councilmembers Lauren Folkerts and Schuchard said they’d like to make more tweaks to city zoning rules. Folkerts would like to change single-family zoning to allow duplex and triplex developments. The council voted last fall to allow duplexes and triplexes in low-density residential areas, provided that they conform with existing density limits.
“By embracing this change, we can create more housing units within existing urban areas to reduce sprawl (and) expand transportation options,” said Folkerts.
Council members also spent part of Wednesday discussing administrative, process-related items. During the second day of the retreat on Thursday, council members will narrow down their list of ideas to 10 key priority areas of focus.
