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)
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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 80302RE: 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 19th 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 19th
& 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
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