Issue: City of Boulder's Retail Strategy
Boulder is steadily losing the ability to support itself.
Retail sales taxes are the primary source of City revenues. Upwards of 2/3 of the budget is comprised of sales tax revenue. But over the last 15 years, Boulder has neglected to provide effectively for its future retail sales base. Restrictive land use policies coupled with obsessively difficult approval processes have created disincentives for commercial development. Our collective neglect has rendered in-city facilities obsolete in this fast changing market environment and provided strong incentives for surrounding towns to make new and exciting retail centers available. Retailers have correspondingly become increasingly attracted to our periphery, while Boulder citizens have been responding by spending an ever larger share of their discretionary dollars in these new facilities.
In the face of a now-obvious current and future revenue deficit, our policy makers are responding with deliberate reluctance to consider bold initiatives aimed at recovering a competitive retail position in the north Denver economy. Boulder's Planning Board turned down an application for a sizable retail development on North 28th St, because the land is currently in Boulder's "Planning Reserve". They would prefer to wait another five years to reconsider putting that land to productive use. And though City Council has kept the application alive – barely, Council appears more like a cat toying with a mouse rather than seriously committed to actions which will stem the outflow of shoppers to other cities. Meanwhile, major retailers are becoming vindicated in their conviction that Boulder's market can be had from the periphery, where they are greeted with greater policy friendliness and process efficiency. Given these dynamics, in five years Boulder will likely have forgone any opportunity to reverse its revenue slide.
Boulder Tomorrow is concerned about Boulder's flagging competitiveness and believes changes in our city's attitudes as well as policies are needed - sooner rather than later.