Boulder planning board backs 2024 Wildland Urban Interface code updates, expands WUI map

The City of Boulder Planning Board voted to recommend that City Council adopt Ordinance 86‑95 to adopt by reference the 2024 edition of the International Wildland‑Urban Interface Code and to update the city’s Wildland‑Urban Interface (WUI) map.

The ordinance and map update were the core of a 30‑minute staff presentation and an extended question-and-answer period during the April 15 meeting. Lisa Hood, principal planner with Planning and Development Services, opened the staff presentation and framed the item: “The purpose tonight is for Planning Board to make a recommendation to the city council on ordinance 86 95.” Chief David Lowery of Boulder Fire Rescue and Rob Adrians, the city’s chief building official, joined Hood for technical detail and answered board questions.

Why it matters: the changes update technical building‑code measures for homes and structures in areas where developed neighborhoods meet vegetated open spaces, and they expand the geographic area where those measures apply. Board members spent much of the meeting questioning how the expanded map and new local amendments would affect multifamily and higher‑density parcels, the amount of private green space available on small lots, and how the city will pair code changes with outreach, incentives and enforcement.

Most of the proposed local amendments target vegetation management and “defensible space” rather…