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Neighbors push Save Iris Fields plan to preserve ballfields, propose senior housing and cafe across North Broadway complex
Summary
Residents and neighborhood stewards urged Boulder County commissioners to preserve Iris Fields and supported a neighborhood-led proposal that would save the ballfields while allowing a modest senior-housing development and a small community cafe on adjacent county-owned property.
Multiple neighbors told the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners on Oct. 2 they want the county to preserve Iris Fields and consider a neighborhood-led development plan for county-owned land adjacent to the fields that they say would protect open space and add community amenities.
Allison Jaffe, a North Boulder Little League board member and Juniper Townhomes resident, described Iris Fields as a multiuse community space that hosts youth baseball, batting cages and tournaments. Jaffe recounted the role the fields played for her family and encouraged a plan that retained the fields while adding intergenerational uses. “We welcome the idea of a community cafe or restaurant since that location is essentially a retail desert,” she said.
Achilles LeGraves, a neighboring resident who said he helped lead a neighborhood-driven proposal, told commissioners the plan is the result of extensive community engagement and would “save the baseball fields” while adding senior housing and neighborhood facilities. “This is a genuine neighborhood-led partnership built from the ground up by the community instead of a developer,” LeGraves said.
Megan LaGraff, who lives across from the complex, said neighbors support the Save Iris Fields proposal and noted community events that have grown around the Juniper neighborhood. Speakers emphasized the fields’ role in youth sports and community gatherings and argued that a carefully designed development could complement, not displace, existing uses.
Commissioners acknowledged receiving large numbers of emails on the topic and said staff are following a process to evaluate facility options. Commissioner Loetramin said county staff and deputies are working with community groups and that a deputy county administrator is leading the staff review; no decision was made at the Oct. 2 meeting.
Provenance: Iris Fields comments began with Allison Jaffe in the Oct. 2 public-comment period (00:06:29) and continued through neighborhood testimony and the commissioners’ comments acknowledging community input (00:42:08).
