The University of Colorado at Boulder will present a resolution to the CU Board of Regents Thursday requesting authority for the chancellor to execute an agreement with the City of Boulder regarding the university聮s redevelopment of Grandview Terrace, Chancellor Richard L. Byyny, said today.
Formal mediation sessions during the last five months, facilitated by Judge Richard Dana from the Judicial Arbiter Group Inc., brought CU administrators and City of Boulder staff to an agreement for the university聮s proposed development of Grandview. Representatives of the university, the city and historic preservation organizations participated in the mediation.
"We are pleased to provide the Board with a possible solution for the redevelopment of Grandview. We had many thorny issues to work out, and it was to the credit of the negotiators on both sides that this compromise was reached," Byyny said
The compromise included terms of agreement for the use of land, buildings and parking spaces, and for future cooperation between the two entities. The term of the agreement extends until June 30, 2011.
Land Use
Contingent upon approval from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE), the university would agree to give to the city a 25-year covenant to preserve 11 bungalows on both sides of Grandview between 13th and 15th streets. The 25-year covenant is separate from the 10-year overall agreement and would apply only to bungalows owned or subsequently acquired by the university.
Currently the university owns eight of the 11. Two nearby bungalows would be removed through relocation or demolition; however the space once occupied by the two bungalows will be landscaped and preserved without new construction during the covenant.
In exchange, the City of Boulder will vacate public rights of way including 13th Street, as well as alleys within Grandview that will allow for enlarged building footprints within Grandview.
During the term of the agreement, three buildings owned by the university along University Avenue (1511, 1505 and 1546) would be maintained by the university. The university also agrees to include the church building at 1316 Broadway in a program plan for a new building, which will be considered through the university聮s standard processes.
If the university decides not to include the church in the new building, the church may be demolished and removed.
With the exception of the bungalows and buildings the university agreed to maintain, the other structures owned by the university may be demolished or relocated when the university decides to do so.
One condition agreed to by both parties is that, before demolishing bungalows, the university would seek relocation proposals from qualified parties who have an interest in moving specific bungalows and will provide $25,000 for each acceptable relocation proposal. The money will be used for asbestos and lead-based paint abatement and any balances can be used for relocation costs.
The university will also provide the city an opportunity to identify a Grandview bungalow by March 1, 2001 that the city would pay to relocate for university uses into the location of an existing structure that will be demolished, 1334 Grandview. The university proposes to contribute $25,000 toward the overall cost of such relocation.
The city will grant and convey easements for utilities and communications from the campus south of University Avenue to Grandview and provide water, sanitary sewers and other utility services as may be needed for redevelopment of Grandview.
The city also agreed to grant favorable consideration to a university application for financial resources to bury overhead utility lines within Grandview.
In addition, the city will replace two pedestrian bridges and one vehicular bridge crossing Boulder Creek near the CU campus with "break-away" bridges. The replacement of the bridges will reduce the risk from a Boulder Creek 100-year flood north of Boulder Creek to Arapahoe Avenue.
Parking
The university will limit the number of parking spaces in Grandview to 470, which does not include parking along University Avenue, from the 905 spaces previously proposed and would develop a proposal for a multi-use parking structure in the neighborhood that would include up to 30 housing units.
The city would agree to transfer the management responsibility of parking and parking revenues within the Grandview area, as well as along University from 17th Street to Broadway, to the university. In exchange, the university will transfer the management responsibility for parking and parking revenues from a lot owned by CU at the intersection of Broadway and Pennsylvania to the city.
Reviews
Both parties agreed that the mediation process avoided costly and lengthy litigation, and they committed to working together on future issues in the same spirit.
It is expected that if approved by the regents, the compromise plan will be reviewed by the Boulder City Council.
"We worked hard to come to an understanding," Byyny said. "As in any mediation activity, the parties reviewed a variety of alternatives, and we are very respectful of the mediation process that took place. It has allowed us to develop a balanced agreement that is beneficial to both parties."
Byyny said the community owes a debt of gratitude to Judge Richard Dana, whose skills made it possible to resolve a serious "town-gown" disagreement.