Goss-Grove picked as one of America's 25 most bikeable neighborhoods!

Wow!  Our wonderful neighborhood has been recognized for being a bike friendly place!  Check out the full article!

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2013/05/americas-most-bikeable-neighborhoods/5587/

April Goss-Grove Meeting Minutes..Next meeting July 15th, 7 p.m. Make a note of it!

Goss-Grove Neighborhood Meeting

April 8, 2013

Next meeting:  Monday, July 15^th, 7 p.m., 1919 Grove St

The meeting was opened by co-chair Jenny at 7 P.M.  There were 21 people in attendance. Attendees introduced themselves by sharing an interesting tidbit about themselves; we have a very interesting group of neighbors from poets to scientists, rock band performers, students, old and young. We had more people at the meeting than we have had at many meetings and so appreciate all of you coming!  Chocolate was yummy, as was freely flowing wine, compliments of Mary and Maria.  Please come next time, whether it is the first time or the 70^th time.

Topics:

Neighborhood Garden

Little Free Library

Demolition Permit on Goss Street

Compass Rose

Renaming of Canyon Park

Coffee Shop

Naropa Lincoln Building remodel

Treasurers report

Social Media -  NextDoor.com

Good neighbor brochure

Arapahoe construction

Neighborhood Garden—Vote was taken to use funds to get a compost bin at Garden. This will use about 1/3 of our budget.  Last year we had two, but one should be sufficient.  Chris continues to work on sorting stones for mosaic between benches.  He’ll let us know when he needs some more help.  Website for Garden has been put on hold as Stephen is now busy with other tasks. 

Little Free Library:  Chris Shutze, a very talented carpenter and craftsperson in our neighborhood, generously volunteered to design and build a Little Free Library for our Park/Garden.  It’s on his list, but first things first..he needs to finish working on their house.  It’s looking amazing..even the porch is level now.  We’ll wait for what we know will be a beautiful and functional work. (Find out more about this nationwide project at http://www.littlefreelibrary.org/).  If you need remodel/renovation or any other type of carpentry in your home, call Chris at 303-882-4484. 

Demolition Permit for 2118 Goss:  Mark R. gave an update on the demolition permit.  Some folks from Historic Boulder came down and toured the property to see it in its full state of decay.  There is a May 15^th public hearing to lift the stay on a potential demolition permit for a property on Goss.  If this comes through, we can expect a single family home in the future for Mark and his family. 

The compass rose--needs refurbishing and the plan is to undertake the project in the fall. Thanks, Alycia, for volunteering to spearhead this!

Update on renaming of Canyon Park to Emma Martinez Park:  This will be taken up by City Council on April 22^nd…that has now passed so we’ll hear what happened from Loren at next meeting.

Coffee Shop Update: The owner of the building at the southwest corner of Arapahoe and 19^th and the potential business manager spoke of plans to open a coffee shop at that location.  A small coffee shop was approved last year by the city but a revised business plan submitted by the potential business owner and building owner features a 2200 sq ft 80 seat business and expanded hours.  This changes the city requirement for parking etc.  Discussions centered on the overflow traffic and parking impacts that would be shouldered by the neighborhood.  Neighbors generally like the idea of a small coffee shop but don’t want adverse effects for the neighborhood.

Update after meeting:  I received this nice email from Todd.

Thank you very much for inviting us to your association meeting April 8th and allowing us the opportunity to present our proposal and to hear your concerns.  I'm writing to let you know that we will be submitting our proposal to the city for the change in zoning, and will be reducing the amount of seats from 80 seats(26 parking space requirement) to 50 seats(16 parking space requirement) to help address the parking concerns.  This will result in a 50% reduction in parking instead of a 75% reduction.   I apologize about the confusion over the amount of seats, I had originally asked for 60 seats for my shop, but was told that the square footage required 80 seats.  Apparently I had a misunderstanding between amount of seats vs maximum occupancy.  After reviewing the floor plans we determined that 50 seats would actually be the best number for the space.   The maximum occupancy will be figured by square footage after final plans are submitted.

I also wanted to send you some bullet points from my management plan that I submitted to the planning department as well as some steps I will be taking to address parking should the zoning change get approved.

·   I plan to designate 2-4 of the parking spaces in my lot as 15 minute or less only. 

·  The elimination of the curb cut from the parking lot onto 19th street will add two street spaces.  I will petition city to make at least one of them a 15 minute or less space.

·   I will provide bike/skateboard racks

·  I will provide an EcoPass for all employees.  All employees will be encouraged to walk/bike/bus

·  I will concentrate my marketing to the dense population in the immediate area.  I plan on serving the people already in the neighborhood-not trying to bring in business from across town.  I expect most of my customers to be students, the employees of the nearby business, and the residents of Goss Grove.

·  Many of my customers will be on foot or biking

·  There will be no deliveries/music/loud noises before 7am or after 9pm

·  There will be no outdoor musical performances

·  Patio will close no later than 9pm

·  In general I want to be a part of making Goss Grove a more pedestrian friendly neighborhood

Thanks again for your time, consideration and patience!  I hope that I have addressed some of your concerns.  Please feel free to contact me any time with any questions.  I don't have a hearing date yet, but should be late May or early June and would love your support

Naropa Lincoln building remodeling— Naropa has plans to remodel the old Lincoln school house.  This involves an addition to the back of the building that would house stairs and elevator to comply with the CDA for access by wheelchair etc.  The rest of the exterior would be cleaned of air conditioners and fire escapes and would be restored.  Interior remodeling would also be done but doesn’t need historic approval.

Treasurers report—Jamie researched if there was a way to handle finances through a credit union or bank.  For the amount of money that we handle, it seemed difficult, so we are just using a lockbox to hold funds.  Jenny collected $840 from garden fees.  Thank you, Jamie, for looking into this.

Brochure on Good Neighbor Behavior:  We discussed how best to approach neighbors that maybe need a little reminder about things like trash, trash containers, snow shoveling etc.  We came up with the idea of a small GG brochure that anyone could just drop by.  Loren volunteered to write something up for review at the next meeting.  Thanks, Loren!

Social Media/Communications:  Jamie presented NextDoor as our social media solution.  What a great idea and great site!  Thanks, Jamie!  So far we have more than 20 neighbors signed up with some nice participation in music, classifieds, general commentary.  Of course, it will be what we make of it.  I did notice that Paige and Jeff are having a CD concert this weekend and that they posted something on their fence.  I hope they’ll post to NextDoor (hint, hint).  You can sign up at NextDoor.com.  ONLY people who live in Goss Grove can sign up and all the posts are only for our reading.  Love to see participation expanded.

Arapahoe Reconstruction:  The answer to GGNA letter about the Arapahoe Avenue reconstruction from the city was read.  Construction is going to start soon..be ready!

Respectfully submitted by Michele Bishop

All Smiles...and a Clean Garden!

Many thanks to Ryan ( who was taking the picture), Melinda, Jerrie, Jon, Norah, Rigo, Chris and Mac (not pictured).  Between the nine of us, we raked and pulled weeds, filling 1 large compost bin and two large paper bags.  Gardens are ready to bloom!

During our weeding, I learned about all the places Chris has lived (I knew that accent and soft way of speaking was from the south...) and that Jon is looking forward to getting a new baby great Dane soon!  Exciting!

Look forward to next time!  (I will send out schedule of weeding dates through the summer soon.)

Soliciting Feedback on proposed Coffee Shop

Hello Neighbors,  Public comment is being collected on the proposed coffee shop at 19th and Araphahoe, which is before our next meeting on April 8th.

Stephen and I, as co-chairs, are interested to hear your comments and concerns. All of you should have gotten mail on the proposed coffee shop plans.  The original plans called for a small coffee shop, closing at 9 p.m. The proposal on the table now is for a larger coffee shop, closing at 11 p.m and having more events. There are only 8 parking spots in the proposal.  In 2012, when the coffee shop plan shifted from to a larger space and longer hours, the response of the neighborhood was to show great concern about parking availability, while also generally liking the idea of a coffee shop in the neighborhood.

The 2012 letter from the neighborhood is below for your reference.  I think the real question is whether the parking concerns are a deal breaker as far as the neighborhood goes. Obviously, the parking situation affects those of us living near 19th and Grove (with no offstreet parking) the most.  I think Mary and Maria's letter does reasonably represent the reality of the parking situation if no additional parking spaces are provided.

Send  me your opinions, including your name and address (or at least block you live on, if you don't want to give your address).  Thanks!

Jenny  (jenny.devaud@gmail.com)

------------------------------------------------

Mary Hey and Maria Krenz, as co-chairs of the GGNA submitted this letter, July,2012.

City of Boulder Planning and Development Services

1739 Broadway

Boulder, CO 80302
RE: Use Review, 1852 Arapahoe Coffee Shop Expansion
#LUR2012-00044

                                                                                                July 5, 2012

The Goss-Grove Neighborhood Association learned of the proposed new coffee shop at 1852 Arapahoe last spring, and neighbors responded favorably.  We had some concern about the requested 30 percent parking reduction (the “worst case scenario” on which staff based its analysis of the project) but, given the size of the shop and the operating hours, it seemed acceptable. As we understand it, Planning Board unanimously approved the original application on April 5, 2012, but subject to the conditions drawn up by staff (“Recommended Conditions of Approval”).

Staff’s June 18, 2012, Use Review notice describes what seems like a different project.  Rather than 6 am to 9 pm hours of operation, now it’s 6 am to 11 pm.  The 1,445 square feet of the shop (and presumably the number of seats) has grown by over 55 percent.  Yet the same 8 parking spaces are being requested, increasing the suggested parking reduction to a whopping 75 percent.  The new proposal fails to comply with at least two of the conditions specifically assumed by planning staff in its support of the project.

The new coffee shop will lie smack in the middle of Boulder, and clearly much of the traffic it attracts will be pedestrians and bikers.  But some of the roughly 200 visitors expected per diem will drive, and 8 spaces is simply inadequate.  Any assumption that the 16 on-street parking spaces along 19^th Street will help offset the requested parking reduction is fantasy – those spots are almost always filled by adjacent residents, CU students, and Boulder High students. A 75 percent parking reduction is flat-out unreasonable.

We like the idea of a coffee shop.  Goss-Grove will benefit from having one at 19^th & Arapahoe, and it will be great to see the current building improved.  We are not opposed, but parking has been a perennial problem for our neighborhood. The parking assumptions built into the current Use Review are not believable, and we object to inviting yet more cars to spill into our neighborhood.

                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                    Mary Hey & Maria Krenz

                                                                                             Co-Chairs

                                                                        Goss-Grove Neighborhood Association

Neighborhood meeting coming up April 8th..preliminary agenda

Next meeting: April 8th, 7 p.m., 1919 Grove St
We had a great turn out last time..let's do it again!

Preliminary Agenda:

• Coffee shop:  The fellows who are developing the coffee shop on Arapahoe will be coming to talk about their plans, and hear our feedback. (Todd and John)
• Naropa Lincoln Building restoration/ADA compliance project.  (Aaron)
• Demolition permit update for 2118 Goss (Mark)
• Little Library update  (Chris S.)
• Stone mosaic in Garden/Park  (Chris D.)
• Community Garden update  (Jenny/Michele)
• Social Media update (Jamie)
• Street mural (Alycia)
• Arapahoe Avenue update, if any (Michele)
• Any other City stuff (Jerrie, Michele, Mary, Maria...usually you know what's up!)
• Treasurers' report
• We have funds!  Let's discuss projects which have long been on our wish list!

Looks like we have a pretty full agenda already, but please let me know if you have specific things that need to be added.

How much of Goss-Grove housing is rentals? Find out here!

I had a recent inquiry about which properties are rentals.  Michele kindly found the website where all this information can be found.  I thought it was interesting and you might, too.  You can find the info here.

Demolition of College Inn planned for May 28th

We received the following information from University of Colorado.  I don't know that we need to feed anything back to them, but let Stephen and me know if you feel differently!  You can also read more about the demolition in this recent Daily Camera article.
Jenny, co-chair GGNA

________________________________________________________________

CU-Boulder has begun a project to demolish the College Inn on Arapahoe & 17^th. The building is currently vacant and has been scheduled for abatement and demolition. The contractor is mobilizing and will start by abating the interior of the building for hazardous materials, then doing some selective demolition on the interior.

On May 28 (after Boulder High School ends for the year), the contractor will begin demolition. The building will be torn down by mechanical means (no wrecking balls or implosions). The work is expected to be complete by August 1, 2013. At the conclusion of the project, the area will be covered with gravel. The site is expected to remain undeveloped for the immediate future.

Expect to see large trucks in area. The contractor will manage traffic control and also has a dust mitigation plan in place. Work hours are expected to be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the contractor will follow City noise ordinances.

That’s the gist of it. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Feel free to ring me if you want to discuss.

Thanks,

Nicole Gordon

Communications and Outreach Coordinator

Department of Facilities Management

University of Colorado Boulder

303-492-8687 (office)

303-265-1173 (cell)