Boulder planning board adopts denial findings for 1836 Nineteenth Street use review

The City of Boulder Planning Board on July 15 adopted written findings denying a use‑review application to allow the existing building at 1836 Nineteenth Street to be used as a single‑family detached dwelling.

The board voted to adopt the denial findings by a recorded vote of 7–0. The adoption formalizes the reasons the majority of board members gave when they previously denied the use review; board members noted adoption of the findings is a record of the majority’s reasoning and does not alter individual members’ prior votes on the use application.

Staff presented the draft denial findings and supplemental language that quantified the residential pattern on the block and across the RH‑2 zoning district. Staff’s summary said that on the segment of Nineteenth Street near the property (excluding the subject property) there is one detached dwelling unit and 56 residential units in multifamily buildings—about 98% of dwelling units on that segment are in multifamily structures. Measured by structure, staff reported the single detached structure represents roughly 17% of buildings on that segment, while five multifamily structures make up about 83%. Across the broader RH‑2 district staff reported 35 detached units—about 7.6% of the district’s 461 residential units—with roughly 92% of units in multifamily structures.

Those calculations were incorporated into the denial findings. The findings conclude the applicant “failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the proposed detached dwelling unit is located in an area where detached dwelling units predominate,” and therefore did not meet the use‑review standard staff and the board applied.

Several planning board members said they supported adoption of the written findings as an accurate record even if they disagreed with the substantive denial. Planning board member Claudia said, “the staff’s denial findings as written do accurately summarize the discussion of the board majority, and I will be supporting their adoption,” while also reiterating her disagreement with the underlying denial vote and noting concerns about how the code applies to existing, sound structures. Another board member, speaking to the drafting, said staff’s edits clarified which board members had made particular arguments, and welcomed that specificity in the minutes and findings.

A public speaker who addressed the board during the meeting, Leonard Siegel of Historic Boulder, urged preservation of the building at 1836 Nineteenth Street and said Historic Boulder “support[s] the repurposing of this property as a single family dwelling primarily because it is the best surviving example in Boulder of a very important design approach called postmodernism.” His written remarks and testimony were part of the public record the board considered.

What happens next: the adoption of the denial findings formalizes the board’s reasons for denying the use review. The finding itself does not impose landmarking or other protections; board members and members of the public noted that separate landmarking or preservation processes would be required to protect the structure from demolition. The transcript does not record any new motion or staff direction that would alter the property’s legal status beyond the adopted denial findings.

Meeting evidence: staff’s calculations about units and structures and the board’s discussion are recorded in the adopted denial findings and in the meeting transcript and video for July 15, 2025. The case numbers associated with the site review and use review in the packet are LUR2022‑00044 and LUR2023‑00010 (as shown in the staff packet).