FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ABB

Why do you refer to the project as Alpine-Balsam-Broadway (ABB) instead of Alpine-Balsam?

Although the City refers to the project and area plan as Alpine-Balsam, we want to highlight that this project will affect traffic, density, parking and resources well beyond these two streets. The City is in the process of creating a new Area Plan which could result in zoning or use changes that significantly increase the height of buildings in the area as well as traffic and parking loads. The Area Plan not only encompasses the former Boulder Community Hospital but also North Boulder Park, the Ideal and Community Plaza Shopping Centers and the neighborhoods surrounding all of those areas.

What is the City’s Plan for parking at the Alpine-Balsam site?

The City’s current plan calls for 0.8 parking spaces per housing unit. This appears to based on the assumption that in the future people will buy fewer cars.  However, the City of Boulder’s Transportation Master Plan states that the current average is 1.2 vehicles per housing unit. Doing the math, 0.4 vehicles per unit, on average, will not be able to be parked on the site. With as many as 330 units being planned for the site, this represents an additional 132 vehicles that would have to park in the surrounding neighborhood.  

Other sources (DataUSA.io) state that the number for Boulder is 2.0 vehicles per housing unit. Per this higher figure, there may be up to 396 cars that would need to find parking outside of the immediate site and most likely in the surrounding neighborhood.