Planning board calls up proposed conversion at 1836 Nineteenth Street for further review

The Boulder Planning Board on May 20 voted to call up a site review amendment and use review application for 1836 Nineteenth Street, a property with an existing Planned Unit Development (PUD) approval (B‑83‑64) where an applicant seeks to formalize an existing rear deck and convert a former group home into a single‑family detached dwelling.

Board members said they wanted more time to examine whether the proposed conversion complies with the city’s updated use chart and whether the PUD amendment properly formalizes setbacks and deck placement. The board’s call‑up means the project will return for full Planning Board review rather than moving forward only through staff review.

What staff said Shannon Muller, the planner on the project, told the board that older PUD approvals frequently did not show decks and other details; the amendment would “formalize the setbacks that apply to this deck that exists there today.” She explained that the group‑home use had lapsed when the group home ceased to operate and that the property therefore lacks an active use entitlement until the use review is approved. “They came in for a building permit to do some updates to the property, and that's why it entered into this process,” Muller said. She also said that the code treats older PUDs differently and that the site review amendment process is the appropriate route to amend those approvals.

Questions from board members Members asked whether the property is currently occupied (staff asked the applicant to confirm that), whether a new single‑family approval would limit future changes (staff said conditions of approval could limit expansion or modification without returning for review), and whether a previously constructed deck was an illegal post‑approval addition (staff said the PUD amendments often are used to formalize such features when older PUD documentation lacks detail).

Board action and next steps Two board members signaled they wanted to call the item up for full review, and the chair recorded the needed second; the call‑up passed and the matter will be scheduled for a subsequent Planning Board hearing with additional staff and applicant materials. The board asked staff to provide clearer information about current occupancy, the legal history of the structure and whether additional site changes would be treated as a new review or an amendment.

Quotes “Part of the PUD amendment is to formalize the setbacks that apply to this deck that exists there today,” Shannon Muller said, describing the staff recommendation. Planning Board member Laura Kaplan pressed for more inclusion of code citations and said she favored delaying approval of minutes earlier in the meeting so that quasi‑judicial records reflect code references and substantive discussion.

Why it matters The call‑up turns a staff‑level review into a full board review for an item that raises classic land‑use questions: how to treat older approvals; when an unpermitted addition should be formalized; and whether converting a property out of a multi‑occupant group home into a single‑family dwelling aligns with the city’s criteria in a higher‑density zone. The board’s request for more documentary clarity reflects the quasi‑judicial nature of PUD amendments, where the record of code citations and substantive findings matters for future appeals or enforcement.

Provenance Discussion began when staff introduced the item as a call‑up candidate for 1836 Nineteenth Street and ended when two board members asked to call it up and the chair stated that the item was called up and would return for full hearing.