Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan | Environmentally Sustainable

The city and county establish the joint vision for urban growth and rural preservation within the Boulder Valley through a framework of defined Planning Areas. For these purposes, the Service Area is defined as Area 1-Urban Lands and Area 2-Urban Edge.

• a. Area 1-Urban Lands refers to land within the city of Boulder that is currently or planned to be served by the full range of urban facilities and services and where new urban development can occur.
• b. Area 1-Open Lands primarily refers to publicly owned land within the city of Boulder where new urban development is not supported by the plan and that is intended to remain rural in character. Limited facilities and services may be provided to these lands if consistent with this plan, or a full range of services may be provided for health, welfare and safety reasons.
• c. Area 2-Urban Edge refers to unincorporated Boulder County lands where annexation to the city is supported by the plan. New urban development is not supported, and the full range of urban services will not be provided by the city. Limited facilities and services may be provided if consistent with this plan.
• d. Area 3-Rural Preservation refers to land within unincorporated Boulder County that is intended to remain rural in character. New urban development is not supported, and this area will not be served by the full range of urban facilities and services. Annexation to the city is not allowed except in limited circumstances as described by this plan.
• e. Area 3-Planning Reserve refers to land within unincorporated Boulder County that may be considered for future expansion of the Service Area per the policies of this plan and procedures included in the intergovernmental agreement between the city and county.

Explore the interactive Boulder Valley Planning Areas map.

The county regulates development and redevelopment in Area 3-Rural Preservation and Area 3-Planning Reserve as allowed by the Boulder County Land Use Code. The county will not allow over-intensive rural development or new urban development in Area 3-Rural Preservation or Area 3-Planning Reserve. The county sends applications for development in Area 3-Rural Preservation and Area 3-Planning Reserve to the city for comment.

The city and county preserve lands for open space purposes, as defined by the city charter or tax-enabling language, by purchasing or accepting donations of fee simple interests, conservation easements or development rights and other measures as appropriate and financially feasible. The city and county steward these lands to ensure ongoing protection, maintaining their value for open space purposes into the future.

The city and county preserve rural land uses and character in the Boulder Valley including natural settings and ecosystems, agriculturally significant lands, hazard areas, vistas, significant cultural and historic resources and established rural residential areas.

The city encourages the continued use and reuse of existing buildings for new purposes to recognize local history and architecture, activate vacant or under-utilized spaces, contribute to neighborhood activity and retain embodied carbon by reducing demolition and the creation of unnecessary building material waste.

The city and county work together to ensure urban development is focused within Area 1-Urban Lands to utilize existing urban services, maintain a clear boundary between urban and rural areas and avoid patterns of leapfrog, non-contiguous, scattered development within the Boulder Valley. The city encourages redevelopment and infill within municipal boundaries alongside consideration of managed expansion of the Service Area, as allowed by Area 2-Urban Edge and the Area 3-Planning Reserve, to create a compact city and prevent the negative consequences of urban sprawl.

The city aligns land use and transportation planning to integrate a variety of neighborhoods with a range of uses into a well-connected, safe, local and regional network of mobility choices. The city supports higher activity near multimodal corridors and transit centers that provide enhanced mobility choices and facilities. The city and county collaborate on transit investments and improvements so that local and regional transit systems are well integrated.

The city promotes and maintains a network of high-quality natural infrastructure including waterways, open lands, parks, urban tree canopy, and plant and habitat corridors to integrate environmental, social, health and recreation functions.

The city and county sustain healthy ecosystems and biodiversity within the Boulder Valley by integrating ecological values into planning and land management. The city and county actively and intentionally restore and manage important lands, encourage regenerative agricultural practices and consider environmental factors alongside community development activity.

The city and county recognize wetlands and riparian areas as vital ecological and community assets. The city and county have programs that identify, improve, restore and protect the value that wetlands and riparian areas provide the Boulder Valley. The city strives for no net loss of wetlands and riparian areas in the Boulder Valley through the city’s wetland regulations that discourage development in wetlands and provide guidance on minimizing and mitigating any impacts.

The city and county prioritize climate action that reduces and works to eliminate the production of climate warming emissions while growing the community’s resilience and adaptive capacity, preparing people, buildings, infrastructure and natural systems for changing conditions. The city recognizes that those least responsible for climate change often face the worst impacts. The city will advance climate justice by prioritizing support for those most affected by climate impacts and advance climate equity by distributing resources, benefits and burdens of climate actions in ways that ensure everyone has a fair outcome.

The city and county plan and design public buildings, facilities and infrastructure that integrate nature-based solutions and natural infrastructure elements to enhance natural systems, increase biodiversity, increase resilience to hazards, reduce urban heat, increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions, improve water use efficiency, manage stormwater and provide health and social benefits for community members.

The city and county recognize that community well-being and environmental health are interdependent. The city and county consider the protection and enhancement of biodiversity in decision-making, ensuring that future policies, programs and projects contribute to the long-term health and resilience of local ecosystems and urban settings that may benefit from a diversity of both native and non-native species. The city and county further support biodiversity through the preservation of rural lands and open space to reduce the fragmentation of landscapes and maintain larger connected ecosystems.

The city enhances and maintains tree canopy, healthy vegetation and other cooling strategies to reduce the impacts of extreme heat. Efforts to improve or increase cooling and heat management strategies will prioritize vulnerable populations while balancing the need for wildfire risk reduction and water conservation.

The city and county prioritize source water protection and watershed planning efforts to protect and improve water quality of creeks and reservoirs for drinking water, aquatic life, agricultural uses and recreation. The city will pursue wastewater treatment processes to achieve water quality improvements, energy efficiencies and resource recovery, including biosolids reuse.

City water resource planning efforts consider climate change, have a regional perspective and use a variety of strategies including water conservation, infrastructure improvements, water-efficient land use policies, water leasing and water acquisition to meet municipal uses and open space and agricultural goals. The city seeks to achieve the water supply reliability criteria through water supply and demand management while balancing in-stream flow maintenance and preservation of irrigated agriculture. The city seeks to minimize or mitigate the environmental, agricultural and economic impacts of its water rights acquisitions, including avoiding the dry-up of irrigated lands that permanently converts agricultural water to municipal and industrial uses.

The city and county work to prevent and manage the introduction and spread of invasive plant and animal species that pose a risk to native species and communities, public health and/or ecosystem health. Management strategies are chosen to minimize impacts on human health, the environment and non-target organisms. The city uses integrated pest management and other best practices to balance protection of biodiversity and critical ecosystem services with human safety and community needs.

The city and county partner with state and federal agencies to promote wildlife and land use management practices that minimize human conflicts with wildlife while conserving, restoring, and connecting habitat in the Boulder Valley. When the presence of wildlife conflicts with people or land use, or is a public health concern, the city and county will partner with state and federal agencies to use a range of humane, effective, cost-conscious and ecologically responsible management approaches.

The city and county protect people and property from flood hazards through the implementation of high priority flood mitigation projects that also consider equity, ecosystem function and climate change. These actions will be supported by outreach and education initiatives to enhance community preparedness. To the extent feasible, floodways will be preserved or restored to maintain natural floodplain functions, major drainageways will be adequately maintained and infrastructure located within floodplains will be designed, upgraded or managed to improve resilience to current and future climate conditions.

The city and county seek to reduce emissions and improve both indoor and outdoor air quality to protect public health, enhance community well-being, and support climate goals. Strategies should pursue local and regional solutions to address everyday pollutants as well as acute risks such as wildfire smoke.

The city and county innovate and act to reduce fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions to improve public health, strengthen community resilience and meet climate goals. The city will advance renewable energy generation and efficiency, sustainable transportation, sustainable land management and land planning practices that lower carbon emissions while supporting equity and economic vitality.

The city and county will pursue efforts to improve the energy- and resource-efficiency of new and existing buildings and encourage on-site renewable energy generation. Energy conservation regulation and programs will balance the community’s goals for energy efficiency with the challenges of affordability.

The city and county support programs and opportunities for individuals, businesses and organizations to develop, use and share local renewable energy generation.

The city and county pursue programs, partnerships and activities that reduce the local consumption of products and materials, decrease food-related waste, encourage local reuse, reduce the amount of waste that must be landfilled, manage hazardous waste and support a circular economy that is resilient and regenerative.

The city supports the creation, care and activation of accessible nature spaces throughout the community, affording equitable opportunities to live, learn and play in nature to all community members.

The city and county work to provide trail and path systems with connectivity to the regional network and neighboring communities. The city and county coordinate with each other, other providers and private landowners in trail and path system planning, design, construction, management, maintenance and programming. Trail and path connections will be developed to enhance local access and overall function of the network.

The city supports expanding opportunities for facilities that sustain and grow the local food system like cold storage, processing, greenhouses, commercial kitchens, farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture (CSAs), farm stands and retail sites in appropriate city locations.

The city and county recognize that irrigation is essential to sustain agricultural production and the ecological health of natural and working lands in the Boulder Valley and that a functional and well-maintained water delivery system with reliable access is the backbone of irrigation. The city and county support and encourage investment in and improvement of irrigation water delivery infrastructure and systems to minimize water losses and to support long-term agricultural and environmental health of irrigated working lands.

The city and county support and promote sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices on publicly owned lands and encourage such practices on private lands. The city and county will collaborate with the agricultural community to employ and improve practices that increase economic viability and integrate ecological conservation, enhanced soil health, responsible water use, water quality protection, biodiversity and humane treatment of livestock.