Top 10 local stories of 2021: No. 5 — CU South annexation agreement approved – Boulder Daily Camera

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Boulder City Council in September approved the CU South annexation agreement, marking an end of years of contentious debate and charting a path forward for flood mitigation and development of the 308-acre site.
Because the University of Colorado Boulder owns the land, the 100-year South Boulder Creek flood mitigation project meant to protect some 2,300 downstream residents was contingent on the agreement’s approval. The area was among the hardest hit in the 2013 flood.
Additionally, the agreement, approved in a 6-1 vote, dictates what can and cannot happen on the property at U.S. 36 and Table Mesa Drive.
In addition to the flood mitigation project, the CU South annexation agreement designates some of the land for housing for CU Boulder students and faculty, leaves some as open space, allows for a multimodal transportation hub on site and stipulates how much daily vehicular traffic is allowed.
For many whose lives or homes were threatened by the 2013 flood, the project will provide the protection they’ve been advocating for in the eight years since the flood. Many proponents also are excited about the prospect of affordable housing, open space and the potential for a multimodal transportation hub.
But others remain skeptical about the plan and believe more specificity should have been included in the agreement. They also argue the city should use the annexation agreement to push further on its climate goals: both in terms of the flood mitigation project itself and the potential development that will happen on the property.
The City Council in June 2020 agreed to move forward with the Variant 1, 100-year flood mitigation project, which includes a flood wall, an earthen embankment and a detention pond that could store water in the event of a flood.
The council’s approval of the agreement as an emergency measure allows Boulder to complete the 30% design of the project and submit formal permit applications. The information in the agreement that specifies how the flood project components interact with the university’s future plans for the site was a key piece of this, according to city officials.
Although the agreement was approved and a ballot issue that would have forced a vote on the matter failed in November, it’s not the end of the road for the project.
Opponents garnered enough signatures to move forward with a referendum, a city charter provision that allows people to reject a legislative matter passed by council. This vote could happen in a special election at some point next year or in the 2022 municipal election.
Through Dec. 31, the Daily Camera will count down the top stories of the year, as selected by the newspaper’s editors.
10. CU men’s basketball team heads to tournament after COVID killed 2020 chances
9. Fairview students protest handling of sexual assault complaints
8. CU Boulder sanctions visiting professor John Eastman over backing Trump’s claim election was stolen
7. Boulder reckons with homelessness
6. Mark Kennedy departs CU after short, contentious presidency
5. CU South annexation agreement approved
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