Boulder officials look to limit home size

The Boulder Planning Board will consider at its Thursday meeting what to recommend to City Council as far as an interim ordinance limiting size of “pops” and “scrapes,” or home expansions and new homes built on lots where other homes previously sat.

Ruth McHeyser, acting planning director, said the board and council agreed that since it could take as long as a year to come up with permanent regulations, a temporary solution is needed.

The council, she said, is acting on what council candidates heard on the campaign trail: numerous residents of established neighborhoods complained that neighbors were adding on to their homes or demolishing them in favor of much-bigger houses. “People were concerned about losing the character of their neighborhoods,” McHeyser said.

Veronica Precella, president of the Boulder Area Realtor Association, said what’s most alarming about the issue is the effort to prevent any kind of expansion until the city “figures it out,” which she said could be up to two years.

“What happens to the value of the property in the meantime?” she asked, noting the owner of a 1,000-square-foot, 1940s home won’t be able to update his home as he would like. “If he can’t do a pop or scrape or the measure is incredibly limiting, the value isn’t in the 1940s house – it’s in the land and the potential to build a modern structure on that land. If he’s not able to do anything, his investment is in jeopardy.”

The city has yet to do a study that identifies the scope of the problem, Precella said. “We don’t believe the problem is of the magnitude they say it is,” and that overbuilding is more of an exception than the rule. “What we would really like is for the city to identify the problem and come up with a solution prior to enacting a temporary ordinance. Because the city didn’t deal with a couple of problem houses at the time of permitting doesn’t mean we should implement draconian measures for the city as a whole.”

McHeyser said that after hearing public testimony at its March 18th meeting, City Council asked city staff to work with the Planning Board to recommend an interim ordinance that the council will consider on April 15. "After April 15, property owners must adhere to the interim regulations, but many people should be able to move forward (with their plans)," she said. "Folks with plans for bigger homes than the interim limit will have to wait to see what the permanent regulations are to know for sure whether they can move forward as planned or need to make revisions. I can't guarantee what the outcome will be, but the intent I heard from both the Planning Board and council is the interim regulations would primarily address the bigger homes that are the perceived problem."

Please make your voice heard

To voice your opinion about the City of Boulder’s consideration of limiting floor-area ratio as it pertains to neighborhood character, here are the options (all public meetings are in the City Council Chambers, 1777 Broadway):

Now available
Click on this Survey Monkey link to answer questions about the FAR issue. The survey is not scientific but provides the Planning Board and City Council with an opportunity to gather the public’s input and gauge opinions:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=UbGfP_2fyZK4a8DCHiLeN55g_3d_3d

5 p.m. Thursday, April 3
Planning Board will recommend an interim ordinance on house sizes in established neighborhoods to City Council

6 p.m. Tuesday, April 15
City Council’s first reading of interim ordinance
6 p.m. Tuesday, May 6 (tentative)

City Council’s second reading of interim ordinance

For more information or to voice your opinion, e-mail or call the city Planning and Development Services: (303) 441-1880; plandevelop@bouldercolorado.gov.

Boulder among top 100 of nation’s business-friendly metros

Forbes magazine recently ranked Boulder No. 77 out of the 200 Best Places for Business and Careers in the nation.

Common themes for the business-welcoming metros included solid job growth, an educated labor supply and low business costs, according to Forbes. The rankings cover the 200 largest metro areas (populations over 240,000) as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and are based on factors such as five-year historical job and income growth, migration trends, labor, tax, energy, office space costs, cost-of-living index (which factors in housing, transportation, food and other household expenditures), crime, educational attainment, presence of four-year colleges, and cultural and recreational opportunities.

Other Colorado metros landing on the list: Fort Collins/Loveland was the only metro to break into the top 10 at No. 3, while Colorado Springs was 16^th and Greeley 57^th.

Boulder homes continue to appreciate

Boulder had the second-highest ranking for home appreciation rates in Colorado and the 100^th highest out of 291 metropolitan statistical areas nationwide, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Grand Junction was the only state metro area to break into the top 20 across the nation, coming in at No. 3. While no Colorado metros landed in the bottom 20 of U.S. metros, Greeley and Denver-Aurora both saw negative appreciation for the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007, as well as from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2007. Here’s a look at how Colorado metro areas as well as the state compared with other metros and states in home appreciation rates for the fourth quarter of last year:

Source: Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight

Boulder County market remains strong

Contrary to what you are reading and hearing on the news, our market is much stronger than the national market. Real estate is cyclical and, more importantly, local. Nationally, many areas were experiencing double digit appreciation, while we had only modest gains. Those areas with the very high appreciation rates, are the ones that we are reading about dropping so dramatically. Take a look below and you will see continued, modest gains for the most part in Boulder County.

Another factor in pricing is Inventory. Nationally, accounts of swollen inventory are causing decreasing prices. The inventory in our area is actually the lowest that it has been since the end of 2001.

Solar Electric systems in Xcel’s Colorado territory- Part One

Solar electric or photovoltaics (PV) offers a complemental power source to Xcel electricity that also is aestetically pleasing – in contrast to the big, gaudy, tilted panels used only to heat water left on roofs from the ’80s.

After homeowners take all other steps to ensure conservation and efficiency in their homes, PV is an economically viable and environmentally responsible option for powering houses. PV gives the whole house – not just a particular device or appliance – power. You don’t have to consider what amps a particular device in the house demands, as PV is simply providing electrons to your service panel, or breaker box. Your breaker box, combined with the service size you get from Xcel (e.g.: 200-amp service), dictates or manages the draw each breaker and associated devices connected to those breakers demands.

Next, PV generates power in the form of Kilo-watt Hours (Kwh), the same thing for which Xcel charges you. When you make a Kwh, you either use it (your house has the right of first refusal) or give it back to Xcel for a credit (you are credited at the same rate you are billed unless you produce more than you use over a year, and then it is a wholesale rate at which you are credited for the net balance).

The limiting factors on the size of a PV system for your house are roof space, production goals (you decide – 50 percent, 75 percent, 100 percent, etc., of the power you use) and budget. Assuming you have the space and the funds, we size the system using a historical 12-month total of Kwh usage. Roof direction, roof pitch and shade all affect system size, as well, but here is a quick synopsis: the average Xcel single-family dwelling in Colorado uses around 8,000kwh in a year. With a roof that faces anywhere from 135 degrees southeast to 200 degrees south-southwest and has at least a standard ranch’s roof pitch of 20 degrees, a 5.5 kilo-watt (5,500-watt) will make you darn near what is referred to as “net-zero” – you make as much power as you use in a year.

How much does PV cost? Many factors can increase or decrease PV prices, but the average, permitted, turn-key price, taking into account the Xcel Solar Rewards Rebate (www.xcelenergy.com/solar/) as well as the federal tax credit THAT WILL EXPIRE IN 2008, is about $14,000 (plus local taxes). That translates to a rate of $0.07/Kwh over the next 25 years of warranted power. That is lower than current rates from Xcel and, considering they rise 3 percent to 7 percent a year, that is a heck of a deal!

Tune in next month for more information, or contact me at John.Shaw@BellaEnergy.com.

Boulder County has lowest foreclosure rate in state

Although Boulder County saw the number of homes that entered into foreclosure grow in 2007, it still had the lowest foreclosure rate in the state. The Colorado Division of Housing reported that Boulder had 1,009 homes – or one in 112 occupied units – that went into foreclosure last year. That is an increase of 28 percent compared with 2006.

The next lowest rate was in Broomfield County, where one in 70 went into foreclosure, followed by Larimer County’s rate of one per 68. Weld and Denver counties had the highest rates, with one in 29 and one in 32, respectively, going into foreclosure in 2007.

The state noted in its report that just because a home went into the foreclosure process doesn’t mean it was sold by lenders at auction; homeowners do have an opportunity to catch up their payments or sell their homes before the lenders take possession.

Source: Colorado Division of Housing