Last night, the City of Boulder passed the Compatible Development Ordinance (formerly known as “pops and scrapes” or “FAR”), which is meant to limit house sizes in Boulder through a combination of measures. The Ordinance does not go into effect for 90 days, so any projects permitted within the next 90 days in Boulder will be exempt from the requirements of the Compatible Development Ordinance.
The Ordinance passed by a narrow margin, with a 4-3 vote, with the following council members voting in favor of the Ordinance: Matt Appelbaum, Macon Cowles, Crystal Gray and Lisa Morzel. Angelique Espinoza, Suzy Ageton and Ken Wilson voted against the Ordinance. Susan Osborne was absent.
The Compatible Development Ordinance applies to all residential zoning districts in the City of Boulder, affecting a total of about 13,000 houses. The final Ordinance restricts the floor-area ratio to .50 based on a 7,000 square foot lot located in zoning districts RR-1 and RL-1 and .55 for lots located in the RMX-1 zoning district.
Floor-area calculations for the purpose of the Ordinance will include basements based on the percentage of exposed perimeter walls that are more than 36 inches above grade. The Ordinance also includes a “virtual floor” component, which counts the floor area of spaces that are 16 feet or taller twice as much as the lowest level’s square footage and the floor area of spaces that are 26 feet or taller are counted three times as much as the lowest level square footage. The Ordinance exempts the first 150 square feet of stairwell from the calculations.
The Ordinance also limits building coverage on a sliding scale based on building coverage of 35% of lot area, with increased coverage allowed for smaller lots and decreased coverage for larger lots. The Ordinance exempts some porch areas from the building lot coverage calculations, including up to 300 square feet of front porch area and up to 150 square feet for back porch area. In addition, certain historic accessory structures are exempt from the calculations, through the Landmark Alteration Certificate.
The Ordinance will also place restrictions on the “bulk plane,” which is the conceptual 3-D envelope that a house could occupy. In addition, it limits any sidewalls which are taller than 14 feet in height to 40 feet in length.
To implement the new Compatible Development Ordinance, there will be additional plan check fees to the City of Boulder, increasing the amount from 25% to 50% of the building permit fee.
Going in for permit on a project in Boulder? Populus Sustainable Design Consulting is your one-stop shop for complying with the energy efficiency requirements of Boulder’s Green Points program. In addition to home energy rating services (or “HERS rating”), Populus offers Green Points consulting and Manual D and J calculations. To learn more visit Populus Sustainable Design Consulting.
