Boulder launches lottery-based community assembly, seeks 48 residents to shape updated comprehensive plan

Vivian Castro Wildrich, public engagement coordinator for the Department of Urban Planning, said the city is launching a lottery-based community assembly as part of the largest update to the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan in decades.

The assembly will select 48 residents by lottery to meet seven Saturdays between May and October and produce consensus recommendations aimed at shaping policies such as 15-minute neighborhoods, housing types and transportation. The city will mail 10,000 invitations in yellow envelopes; participants chosen by household must be at least 16 years old. Selected members will receive a $1,000 stipend, and the city will provide interpretation, transportation and childcare support as needed, Castro Wildrich said.

The assembly is part of a broader outreach campaign to update the comprehensive plan, which is on a roughly 10-year update cycle and sets long-range goals for land use, housing and transportation across the Boulder Valley. “The plan is aspirational,” Castro Wildrich said. “It gives us an opportunity to reflect on what’s working and what our community will need in 20 years.”

City staff said the assembly will focus on the concept of 15-minute neighborhoods — areas where most daily needs can be reached within 15 minutes by walking, rolling or biking. The assembly’s recommendations will feed directly into the plan and the policy work that guides future investments and regulations, Castro Wildrich said.

Officials described additional engagement opportunities for residents who do not receive a mailed invitation. An open-call registration for people who live, work or study in the Boulder Valley will run from Feb. 21 to March 21; community-focused listening sessions are scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 22 and Saturday, March 8 at Junky Art Social Club near Boulder Junction. The city also plans a large, public open house on April 12 at the East Boulder Community Center.

Castro Wildrich noted the update will cover housing tools already discussed in recent local policy changes — including making duplexes and triplexes allowable and permitting accessory dwelling units — and said the plan includes protections for mobile home parks. She also described the community-originated “Blue Line” policy that limits extension of city water and sewer services above a certain mountain contour to concentrate development in the valley and preserve mountain views and open space.

Language access is a stated priority: the city will provide interpretation at events and translate key documents. The city has a dedicated project website, boulderfuture.org, and an email contact, future@bouldercolorado.gov, for questions and feedback.

The podcast hosts encouraged broad participation from Latino and other underrepresented communities, noting that households with multiple generations have distinct housing and public-space needs that the city cannot identify unless those residents take part in engagement opportunities. Castro Wildrich said the city hopes the assembly will broaden participation beyond those who typically attend public meetings.

For more information and to register for the open call, the city directs residents to boulderfuture.org and the Once and Future Green organization’s event pages. Castro Wildrich said mailed invitations will arrive in a yellow envelope and will include instructions for applying to the assembly.

Upcoming dates noted in the outreach schedule include community meetings on Feb. 22 and March 8, the online open-call window Feb. 21–March 21, the public open house on April 12 at the East Boulder Community Center, and the assembly’s seven sessions between May and October.