By Mary Kirker 

Developer Terry O’Connor from the O’Connor Group hosted a town meeting Tuesday evening, July 24, in the vacant field behind the Boulder Medical Center Gunbarrel office. 

The setting, complete with cookies, cake and bottled water shielded from the rain by a white tent, hosted a lively debate among the 50 participants. O’Connor and his architects presented plans for the Town Center development, answered questions and fended off worries from area residents, city planners and future tenants.

The current multi-use plan for the property includes retail and office space, rental apartments and privately owned townhouses. "The basic concept here is to create a downtown, kind of an urban center," said architect Erik Hartronft, "something that you could find in traditional towns in the West."

Hartronft referred to photos shown at a prior meeting where participants were asked to mark their preferences in green, yellow and red dots. Green dots represented an acceptable design, something area residents could live with; yellow indicated something they were unsure about; red meant the concept was unacceptable. "Nice pedestrian spaces, outdoor cafés, a nice kind of urban human scale people responded very well to," stated Hartronft. 

Suggestions from participants included a better postal substation and renovation of the King Soopers and Compass Bank exterior. The Texaco gas station was described by some as unappealing as the sentinel to the Town Center entry.

"What’s not going to work here is another shopping center like the one you’ve got next door," Hartronft continued. "If we could fix King Soopers we would." O’Connor hinted that another grocery store would be central to the development or "some kind of a market that would offer what you can’t get at King Soopers."

"You would go underneath and park," said Hartronft, "We don’t want cars to be a dominant feature." The one level underground parking garage was estimated to hold 500 cars, with an additional 200 parking spaces on the street, for a total of 700 parking spaces total.

Participants pointed out that there still would be a large amount of unattractive surface area parking. Bill Fauri, another architect, noted that retailers prefer storefront access for parking.

The center has plans for a health club with a rooftop pool, and a pocket park for children outside the health club on the ground level. There is also a central courtyard where two streets intersect perpendicularly. "These plans are not final," Hartronft noted in concluding his presentation.

One concerned resident questioned the size of the courtyard at the roundabout. The architects estimated it would be approximately 100 square feet, including two 30 square foot seating areas.

Another major concern centered on the type of traffic the center would generate. O’Connor felt that most of the traffic would be from "commuters" who live in Gunbarrel. Many in the audience remained unconvinced that new tenants would be walking to their jobs and not driving. 

Residents felt that most workers could not afford housing in Gunbarrel. "There will be affordable housing here," noted Hartronft, "because the city (of Boulder) dictates that."  Molly Tayer from the O’Connor Group explained, "It’s generally market rate housing and it’s based on the median income for the area and what is 25 percent of that for housing."

The development calls for a four-story structure with retail and office space at the ground level and an estimated 120 to 180 residences for the top three floors. Attendees stated that there were many patio homes, town homes, and condos already in Gunbarrel. Single family dwelling ownership was supported instead. 

Frank Marceau, also of the O’Connor Group, estimated that 18,000 people live in the Niwot/Gunbarrel area now, but noted that only 8-to-12 townhouses were planned for the Town Center development. 
O’Connor said, "One of these buildings calls for 60,000 square feet of office. If the city had their way, those offices would be converted to residential and the city usually has their way." O’Connor then called on Boulder City planner Mike Randall. Randall did not dispute the city’s support of residential development.

Randall also noted that the acreage was considered a wetland. The planned multi-use development needed to be evaluated by the Corps of Engineers for the impact on wildlife and drainage with removing the marsh. Randall estimated that a city site review would be scheduled in two to three months, with a public hearing as early as January 2002. "Remarkably, the city has no Gunbarrel plan," Randall said in discussing strategic planning, in spite of providing most of the services to area residents. 

Another participant chastised the city and county of Boulder for not allowing further exits off the Diagonal Highway to accommodate traffic. The two primary exits are at Jay Road and 63rd Street. All observed that a traffic study seemed to be in place that week on Lookout Road. O’Connor stated that the city denied running the study. "We don’t know who did it," O’Connor said, "but I would be interested in it myself."

Residents supported the developers in working closely with the city and the county. In the past, residents noted that the two governing bodies have not worked together on road and utility projects.

Marcilie Galapp, Director of Boulder Public Libraries, agreed with the need for a branch in Gunbarrel. Funding from an all county tax was recommended. Reliance on Boulder City tax was felt to be inadequate and inappropriate in serving the area. 

Finally, residents denied any interest in being annexed by the City of Boulder. All agreed that their use of Gunbarrel business was frequent and already included paying city sales tax to Boulder without regard for their county residences. 

If you have more questions or concerns about the proposed Town Center contact the following:

• Frank Marceau from the O’Connor Group towncenter@OConnor-group.com
• Mike Randall City of Boulder planner randallm@ci.boulder.co.us or 303-441-4919.
• Marcilie Galapp Boulder Public Library  marceliegalapp@boulder.lib.co.us
 Photo by Mary Kirker

Photo by Mary Kirker
Terry O’Connor, developer, with Bill Fauri and Erik Hartronft, architects of Gunbarrel Town Center. 

Photo by Mary Kirker
An overview of the proposed Town Center.