Facing a complicated and lengthy approval process for water rights needed to start construction, Boulder developers have scaled back plans for a proposed housing project near the city cemetery.
On June 14, the City Planning Board will review Chad Bullock’s revised request for the City of Boulder to annex 6.55 acres, part of a 11.7-acre parcel that Bullock and his father, Buster Bullock, say they intend to subdivide into 15 lots developed for residential housing.
Of the total parcel, 5.15 acres already are located within city limits, according to the annexation request. The parcel is located almost entirely within the service area of the city’s Water Well #3.
The well service is significant. Bullock’s original proposal, a 29-acre development with 36 residential lots, was challenged by owners of neighboring properties, including McCauley General Partnership and McCauley Family Ranch LLC, who argued that the city must provide adequate water.
A report by the engineering firm of Morrison Maerle, commissioned by the city in response to neighbors’ concerns, recommended that the City apply to the State to amend its existing water rights to serve the development. The DNRC review
and permitting process, Morrison Maerle noted, typically takes a year and a half.
The city has hired a water rights attorney, Ben Sudduth of Bozeman-based Sudduth Law, PLLC, to review the situation, according to City Clerk Ellen Harne.
In the meantime, said Buster Bullock, “we’re just going to do what’s in the city limits today. By the time the city sorts out the water rights for what we’re asking them to annex, it could be a year, at least.”
Bullock indicated that, it the city can resolve the water rights issue, he and his son would develop the remaining parcels. “If there’s still some demand, yes, we’ll come back to it,” he said. “Eventually, we’d like to finish he process out. For now, we’ll let it stand alone.”
Bullock pointed out that a first phase of development would put in place infrastructure that could be used by later stages. That proposed phase is located at the end of East 2nd Avenue, along the current cemetery access road. The residential lots range in size from 0.43 acres to 0.64 acres.
Cheryl Haasaker, one of the residents of East 2nd Avenue who has opposed the development, said the revision “does change it some, but we’re still concerned about the traffic.”
She and other neighbors, she said, are concerned about increasing numbers of vehicles driving at high speeds along their road – especially through a section that passes a city park with playground equipment. “People are concerned that this is the only street for exiting and entry” from and to the proposed construction, she said.
