The City of Boulder Planning Board voted to recommend that city council approve a series annexation and initial residential-estate (RE) zoning for 915 Fifth Street, a property owners say needs municipal water and a fire hydrant for safety and reliability.

Staff said the 0.96-acre portion of the parcel proposed for annexation sits along the city’s western limit and that the annexation would allow connection to City of Boulder water and sewer. “We’re here tonight to consider the annexation initial zoning of 915 Fifth Street,” Chandler Ranscock, planning and development services, told the board during the staff presentation.

Board members and staff said the annexation is eligible under state law and consistent with the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan’s policies on Area 2 properties and annexation. Staff noted the parcel is partly in an area that voters moved inside the “blue line” in 2016, which made the developed portion eligible for city water. The annexation petition would be processed as a series annexation under Colorado statute so the portion that establishes contiguity can be annexed first and the remainder later.

The property owners, Rochelle and Lee Woods, told the board they have hauled water for years and that deliveries have become unreliable. “We’ve been trucking water to our property for 20 some years. And, as we’ve gotten older, it just gets scarier,” Rochelle Woods said in explaining why city water and a hydrant are critical for their household.

Staff told the board the proposed annexation includes an annexation agreement that would prohibit new development on the 0.48-acre portion above the blue line and would restrict the portion proposed for annexation to one dwelling unit; the only work required to serve the house would be installation of a water and sewer line in the existing private shared driveway and a new fire hydrant at the base of the drive.

Board members asked several technical questions about contiguity, how the blue line affects development potential, driveway and fire access, and how the city evaluates a property’s remaining development potential under BVCP policy 1.17(c). At least one member raised a specific concern that annexation could increase the property’s future allowable floor area under city rules, creating more redevelopment potential than the Woods intend.

Planning Board member Kurt moved that the board recommend city council amend the annexation agreement to limit allowable built floor area on the property; after discussion the motion was amended on the floor to cap built floor area at 4,000 square feet. The board voted to recommend approval of the annexation and zoning and to ask council to include the 4,000-square-foot built-floor-area limit in the annexation agreement. The recommendation from planning board is advisory; the final annexation ordinances will be considered and adopted (or denied) by city council in subsequent hearings.

No public comments were received during the mailed noticing period, staff said. During the public hearing, one speaker raised concern about the 2016 blue-line change and questioned whether the change and the effect on property values had been reviewed.

The planning board’s recommendation directs staff to forward the annexation petition, the draft annexation agreement and the board’s recommended amendment (the 4,000-square-foot built area limit) to city council for its final decision. The series annexation requires at least two ordinance actions by council; the first establishes contiguity for the remainder.

If council approves the annexation in whole or in part, the property owners will be able to connect to city water and sewer and the city will place RE zoning on the annexed portion; any changes to the annexation agreement and final development rights will be spelled out in the ordinances and the signed annexation agreement.

Authorities cited in staff materials and discussion included Colorado Revised Statutes provisions governing annexation and the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan policies that guide annexation and Area 2 properties. The planning board’s action is advisory; council will consider final ordinances and the annexation agreement at future meetings.