Broomfield staff outline draft public land dedication ordinance to incent on-site open space and income-aligned housing

City and County of Broomfield planning staff on Tuesday presented a draft ordinance to update the municipal public land dedication (PLD) regulations, proposing new methods to calculate on-site dedication and cash-in-lieu obligations tied to different residential product types.

The presentation, led by Brandon Rowe, planning manager, said the draft implements recommendations from the 2024 Open Space, Parks, Recreation & Trails (OSPRT) plan and aims to balance the city’s 40% open-lands goal with incentives to produce higher-density and income-aligned housing.

Staff said the draft creates three methodologies for meeting PLD obligations: (1) market-rate residential projects (no change from the current 25% on-site requirement), (2) 100% income-aligned housing at or below 60% area median income (AMI) with reduced on-site requirements (20% for sites 10 acres or larger; 15% for sites under 10 acres), and (3) mixed-income projects that may qualify for cash-in-lieu waivers or reductions based on the share and income level of the affordable units. The current “average” cash-in-lieu rate used in staff examples is $86,000 per acre; staff proposed updating that rate every two years based on large-parcel sales.

Staff walked council through numeric examples. For a 300-unit apartment on a 10-acre site, the existing 25% on-site requirement translates to 2.5 acres of dedication; under current average-value calculations that example produced roughly $970,000 in cash in lieu if the land portion were monetized. If the same project provided 20% of units at 60% AMI, staff estimated the cash-in-lieu obligation would fall to about $808,400 while still requiring 2 acres of on-site dedication.

Other proposed changes include: - Allowing parcels under 3 acres that provide on-site dedication to remain in private ownership and maintenance but require a recorded permanent public-access easement so the parcel still counts toward PLD credit. Staff said the change recognizes maintenance burdens on small parcels while preserving public access. - Lowering the PLD credit for detention ponds and drainage channels from 50% to 25% because staff said those features are often not highly usable public amenities; by contrast, lakes, streams and other natural water bodies would qualify for increased credits (proposed up to 50%). - Clarifying terminology in Title 17 (zoning) to distinguish “private open area” from “open space,” and reducing the minimum private open area for residential PUDs from 40% to 30%; staff emphasized a combined obligation of required on-site PLD plus private open area would still leave a substantial portion of a site reserved from development. - Requiring amenitization of on-site PLD in many cases so land credited as PLD is developed with amenities unless a variance is granted.

Council members asked about the ordinance’s likely effects on the supply of income-aligned housing, the fate of cash-in-lieu funds used for parks and maintenance, and whether the rules could encourage parcel fragmentation. Staff replied that the inclusionary housing ordinance (IHO) requirements remain unchanged, that most future projects will fall into the mixed-income category and thus still generate some cash-in-lieu, and that the draft ordinance contains provisions to prevent deliberate fragmentation to avoid PLD obligations.

Kristen Pritz, director of open space and trails, told council staff had consulted a consultant and convened focus groups with developers during the OSPRT plan process; staff said that outreach informed the proposal to emphasize connectivity, smaller high-quality park sites, and realistic trade-offs developers can meet.

Council directed staff to move forward with drafting the ordinance and related materials, to post a Broomfield Voice page to collect public comments through second reading, and to return the ordinance for first reading tentatively in August and second reading in September. Staff noted variances could be requested for unique projects if the code proved impractical on a case-by-case basis.

Council and staff repeatedly emphasized that the 40% open-lands objective remains unchanged. Rowe and Pritz said the draft seeks to produce more on-site amenities in higher-density developments while still preserving a role for cash-in-lieu to fund larger capital projects.

Next steps: staff will post materials for public comment, draft a formal ordinance based on the study-session discussion, and return to council for readings if directed to proceed. No formal vote was recorded during the study session; council provided consensus direction to staff to proceed.