MDR land use change would be an abuse of land dedicated for a school or recreational use
An open secret about the south field is that it’s a subdivision dedication. This means that a developer gave the land to Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) for $10 as part of the county requirements to build the subdivision. Colorado Revised Statute 30-28-133 and Boulder County Land Use Code Article 7 says that dedicated lands can only be used for parks or schools, and they must be for the benefit and use of the subdivision residents. The proposed land use change request to MDR or MXR is an unauthorized use of dedicated land and may qualify as wrongful takings from both the developer and the residents the dedication was supposed to serve.
Dedicated lands
- Dedicated lands should reasonably serve residents of the contributing subdivision
- Dedicated lands are not earmarked for residential development. Housing is private in nature and would create the same growth impacts that the dedication was intended to ameliorate.
- South Twin Lakes field is dedicated for a school or recreational use
- 60% of school site was intended to be a children’s park
- 1977 Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan shows area as part of a 40-acre community park. Twin Lakes fields are all that remains of that vision.
The Issue
The southern Twin Lakes field was given to the Boulder Valley School District and has a land-use designation of Public. In 1967, George and Everett Williams, the “founders of Gunbarrel,” dedicated this land to serve the Gunbarrel Green residents, specifically for a school or recreational use. BVSD’s land use change request for Mixed Density Residential is an unauthorized use of dedicated land.
The main purpose of dedicated land is to set aside land for essential schools and park, so growth pays its own way. Building 280 to 360 more units would create additional impacts and a need for more parks and school resources. Where is the land and money for that to come for? Rather than benefitting Gunbarrel Green families, this land, used for MDR, would expose them to more traffic and exhaust, less wildlife, and eliminate the possibility of a future school or park close to their homes.
Click this document image to download the dedications whitepaper.