There has been a whole lot of buzz and talk lately around town regarding what is known as Tract 350, which you’ll see on the highlighted red area on the map above. This area surrounds the Boulder Creek Golf Course and was approved for sale by the us, the voting public over 10 years ago. Last year the City Council and Staff began work on utilizing this land to become a new housing area with the intent to use the funds to help finance the much needed new pool here in Boulder City.
Last July a formal Request For Proposal (RFP) was made and three builders submitted plans, Story Book Homes, Toll Brothers, and Taylor Morrison (William Lyon Homes). What has created the recent stir is the discussion around a possible zoning change that might be needed to accommodate one or more of the proposals, specifically needing to allow 5,000 square foot lots as opposed to 7,000′ or 10,000′ lots.
To help the general public understand the processes that have been completed so far, and detailed information about the proposals, the City has created a page on its web site HERE to help keep us all in the loop and accurately informed about the facts surrounding these upcoming decisions.
On the website you will see the following information:
- The Map and initial Bid Solicitation documents
- The three Proposals
- The Staff Report and recommendations
- The Minutes from the City Council meeting as well as the video replay
We think this is all important to share so that those interested can take a look in detail as to understand how the city evaluated the bids and also what the next steps are. From the report, as follows:
Overall, the Committee felt that the Toll Brothers proposal best met the intent of the RFP, provided the best value to the City, and provided a home product that was consistent with existing development within the overall City. They propose to take the property down in three phases and develop the property as two distinct projects (one as a R1-5 project fronting Adams Boulevard, the other as a R1-7 project, fronting Bristlecone and Club House). The project has multiple small community parks and one larger linear park alongside Bristlecone (see page 11 of 80 of the Toll Brothers proposal for parkland locations).
Next Steps
After award, but prior to closing on the sales contract, the property will need to be rezoned to match the proposal. This would require rezoning lands adjacent to Adams Boulevard to R1-5 (single-family homes on 5,000 square foot lots). This would also require that the City do a zoning text amendment to create the R1-5 zoning district and its related regulations (setbacks, building heights, parking requirements, etc.) It would also require that the lands adjacent to Bristlecone Drive be rezoned from the combination zoning of R1-10/R1-15 to the proposed R1-7. Lands along Clubhouse Drive are currently zoned R1-7 and do not require a rezoning.
So, as you can see the zoning has not yet been changed to allow the 5,000 square foot lots, however, that may indeed be what happens. It should be noted that in our Historic District there are currently 5,000 square foot lots as we know back when Boulder City was founded, homes were generally much smaller for regular family homes. However in most of our newer subdivisions this generally has not been consistent with new building. We’re unclear at the moment if the City Council will make this change to our zoning, but we do know that given how we are in an election cycle that this is definitely becoming an issue that several of the City Council candidates are speaking out about. Regardless, our intent here is not to take a side but simply to help us all go back through this process and understand better what recommendations were made, and why. Again, the link for all of these resources is HERE.
