Boulder Council approves reuse of 1836 Nineteenth Street as detached dwelling unit

Boulder City Council voted unanimously on Sept. 4 to approve a site review amendment and a use review that will allow the existing structure at 1836 Nineteenth Street to be used as a detached single-family dwelling unit.

The vote implements Planning Department staff recommendations and resolves a long-running review that began with approvals in the 1980s for a group care home at the site and later applications to change the building’s use. Shannon Moller, senior planner, told council staff found the proposal consistent with land-use policies and that necessary easements and flood-control conditions were included. “Staff recommends a motion to approve the site review and the use review applications,” Moller said.

The building, originally approved as a group care facility in 1983, has not operated as such since the special-review approval expired after the property was sold. The applicant proposed adaptively reusing the existing single-story brick structure with modest internal updates (bathrooms) and site changes including reducing parking from three spaces to two, new bike parking and landscaping, and formalizing an existing rear deck through a setback modification. Staff required dedication of a public ditch easement and drainage/flood-control easements along the corner of the site where the Boulder and Left Hand ditch runs.

Applicant Brent Grohman told council the team initially explored a duplex but concluded that current market conditions — sharply higher interest rates, insurance and construction costs — made a duplex or a larger redevelopment financially impractical and would raise rents. “We felt like everything else, mostly affordability and sustainability, really just outweighed that consideration,” Grohman said, arguing adaptive reuse would enable lower rents and preserve a durable, well-built brick structure.

Planning board had split on the requests in June: it voted 6–1 to approve the site review amendment but denied the use review 4–3, concluding the applicant had not shown the site is located in an area where detached dwelling units predominate. Staff used an analysis that grouped housing types by physical structures and found detached dwellings to be the plurality (47%) in the study area bounded by Canyon, Walnut, 18th and 20th streets; council adopted that staff analysis in its motion.

Council discussion focused on the specific use standard in code section 9-6-3(e) about whether detached dwelling units “predominate” in the area and on the practical outcomes for the property if the use review were denied. City attorney’s office advised council that differing reasonable interpretations of the criteria are legally defensible; the council majority agreed the staff interpretation and proposed reuse met the code standards in this instance.

The council’s motion to approve (motion made from the dais and seconded by Council Member Marquis) passed on a unanimous roll call. Council members who voted yes included Council Member Adams; Council Member Benjamin; Mayor Erin Brockett; Mayor Pro Tem Fulkerts; Council Member Marquis; Council Member Schuhart; Council Member Speer; Council Member Wallach; and Council Member Weiner. The approvals adopt the staff memorandum and findings of fact for case numbers LUR2022-00044 and LUR2023-00010.

The decision allows the owner to move forward with the adaptive reuse under the approved site-review conditions. Council members asked staff to prepare a case study of the application process to better understand the review path and how similar properties might be handled in the future.

Votes at a glance: - Site review amendment and use review, 1836 Nineteenth Street (LUR2022-00044; LUR2023-00010): approved, unanimous on roll call.