May 28, 2019
Draft Master Plan Released
Public Comment Due by June 12
What We Think
OSMP has engaged the community and used those ideas to create focus areas and values to define big, broad management themes for OSMP’s next 10 years. Most recently, staff developed a draft Master Plan and released it to the public for comment. In general, Open Boulder is in support of the document and applaud the community, OSMP staff, planning consultants, Open Space Board of Trustees and City Council in developing a sound plan for managing our open space for the future.
What We’re Still Concerned About
The Draft Master Plan describes the Outcomes the community wants, the Strategies we’ve prioritized, but does not presume specific Actions (e.g. management or area plans). Open Boulder will weigh in on Action plan development, such as Integrated Site Projects and how the public process is utilized. Of concern is that previous public process and decisions are reevaluated, reinterpreted or even reversed! Area Plans will be a key issue needing attention from our community if we want to assure public access to public lands.
Open Boulder, along with community leaders and open space advisers, analyzed the plan. Overall this is a solid plan expressing a wide swath of our community’s voices. Specifically, the plan will impact our community in the following areas:
- Dog Off-Leash Restrictions, pp 45-46, 57-58
- Nighttime-Use Restrictions, p. 36
- Closing Undesignated (social) Trails, pp. 33-34, 36
- Increasing Recreation Opportunities, pp. 45-46
- Additional Biking Opportunities, pp. 45-46
- Horse Interests, pp. 45, 56
How You Can Help
Between now and June 12, 2019, the main opportunities for public comment on the draft plan include:
- An online comment form. Comments received through Monday, June 3, will be summarized to inform discussion with the Open Space Board of Trustees (OSBT) and City Council Tuesday, June 11
- Comments received June 4 through June 12 will be considered before releasing a second draft of the plan for consideration by OSBT and the Planning Board
- Community drop-in hours to meet with project staff at the OSMP Hub (2520 55th St):
- Thursday, May 30, from 4 – 7 p.m.; and
- Saturday, June 1, from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.;
- Emails to OSMPmasterplan@bouldercolorado.gov
- Emails to the Open Space Board of Trustees and City Council
- Public comment at a regular OSBT meeting Wednesday, June 12, 2019
May 11, 2019
The Great Scooping of the Poo at CU South!
RSVP & ENTER TO WIN COOL STUFF!
Join local land stewardship organizations, dog lovers and poo haters for the inaugural Scooping of the Poo at CU South on Saturday June 1 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Sponsors–Boulder Public Lands Coalition, Friends Interested in Dogs & Open Space, and Open Boulder–will be on-hand to provide everything you’ll need for this event: gloves, trash bags, clothes pins (to hold your nose), drinks and refreshments (adult, kid and gluten-free friendly). Best of all, everyone participating will receive free raffle entries for cool prizes from local retailers and other businesses! Prizes will be announced soon. Sign up here.
- What: Scooping of the Poo at CU South
- When: Saturday June 1 from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
- Where: CU South Tennis Complex open space
- Why: Because we love our dogs AND environment!
- How: By hand or by dog scoop (BYOPS–Bring Your Own Pooper Scooper)
FIVE REASONS TO SCOOP THE POOP
- No one likes running into pet waste in our neighborhoods, urban areas, parks, trails, or open spaces! Cleaning up your pet’s waste is part of being a responsible pet owner.
- Pet waste doesn’t make good fertilizer. It isn’t good for grass or plants like other animal waste, because it’s too acidic. That’s due to our pet’s high protein diets. Pet waste can actually poison grass and plants, including those in your yard.
- Pet waste can contain dangerous pathogens, viruses, bacteria and parasites like Salmonella, Coccidia, Roundworms, Tapeworms, Parvo, Giardia and E. coli. which can make people and other dogs very sick. Children playing outside and adults who garden are most at risk.
- Compost piles don’t get hot enough to kill the disease-causing organisms in pet waste. You should never add pet waste to a compost pile.
- Stormwater and snowmelt wash pet waste into our waterways. Pet waste is high in nitrogen and phosphorus. Too much of these nutrients can cause algae to grow too fast. That can result in decreased oxygen in the water killing fish and other animals living in the water, the death of underwater grasses and plants, polluted habitat for ducks, crabs, and other animals, and water that is murky, green, smelly, and even unusable for swimming, boating, or fishing.
March 29, 2019
Important Open Space Survey Now Open
The Opportunity
Open Boulder members (you!) can weigh in on how they would like the City of Boulder’s Open Space & Mountain Parks to prioritize your tax dollars over the next 10 years! What strategies should OSMP focus on first? Share your personal preferences by midnight, Sunday, April 7, through this online questionnaire: http://bit.ly/OSMP-Input5.
Last year, OSMP used community input to create focus areas and values to define big, broad management themes for OSMP’s next 10 years. Then in the fall, OSMP used your ideas and feedback to develop draft outcomes and strategies for advancing those focus areas and values. Please help prioritizing draft outcomes and strategies for the OSMP Master Plan. Your input from this online questionnaire will inform future spending and refinements to OSMP management strategies, and will contribute to the development of a draft OSMP Master Plan that will be released to the public in May.
Important Areas to Comment On
- Dog Off Leash Restrictions
- Nighttime Use Restrictions
- Reclaiming/Closing Undesignated (social) Trails
- Additional Biking Opportunities
- Horse Trailer Parking at Trailheads
- Increasing Recreation Opportunities
Please share this questionnaire through your social networks!
February 11, 2019
Mara Mintzer: These were the reasons behind the Wonderland Lake plans
Posted: 02/09/2019 07:04:15 PM MST
On Jan. 15, the city of Boulder hosted a public meeting to discuss proposed changes at Wonderland Lake via the North Boulder Trail Study Area (NBTSA). As I squeezed into the recreation center room, there was palpable anger from the 100-plus neighbors in attendance; they were concerned that the lake’s serenity and nature would be destroyed by the city’s proposal to include a fishing pier, boardwalk and shade structure at Wonderland Lake.
I can understand how residents, many of whom are my friends and neighbors, might fear the proposal if they did not know the history of how and why the city came to suggest these designs. My hope, however, is that my description below will provide greater understanding of why the pier, boardwalk and shade structure were recommended, and why I believe the principles underlying those structures should still be implemented, either at Wonderland Lake or elsewhere in Boulder.
In 2015, the city spent several months reaching out to diverse community members for the NBTSA through workshops and conversations at the Wonderland Lake trailhead, neighborhood coffee shops, grocery stores, parks and online. They engaged hundreds of Wonderland neighbors from low-income and high-income backgrounds, English speakers and Spanish speakers, and young and old. My organization, Growing Up Boulder, which seeks to include young people’s voices in local decisions that affect them, partnered with the city’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department to include almost 100 children and youth, ages 3-18, in the NBTSA outreach. Here is what we heard.
“People are always telling us to get out and enjoy nature, but then we can’t do anything with it but walk,” a 9-year-old boy informed us at the NBTSA family participation day in July 2015. Instead, he suggested the city add “a boardwalk with viewing hole, so I can watch the fish and ducks without scaring them.” Preschool children made similar recommendations during their trip to Wonderland Lake. During the interpretive walk to Wonderland Lake, facilitators also noticed that the trail was not wide enough to accommodate children’s frequent stops for snacks, water and observations. The group decided that a wider path and pullouts with shade might help young children make the journey to the lake.
On Jan. 15, the city of Boulder hosted a public meeting to discuss proposed changes at Wonderland Lake via the North Boulder Trail Study Area (NBTSA). As I squeezed into the recreation center room, there was palpable anger from the 100-plus neighbors in attendance; they were concerned that the lake’s serenity and nature would be destroyed by the city’s proposal to include a fishing pier, boardwalk and shade structure at Wonderland Lake.
I can understand how residents, many of whom are my friends and neighbors, might fear the proposal if they did not know the history of how and why the city came to suggest these designs. My hope, however, is that my description below will provide greater understanding of why the pier, boardwalk and shade structure were recommended, and why I believe the principles underlying those structures should still be implemented, either at Wonderland Lake or elsewhere in Boulder.
In 2015, the city spent several months reaching out to diverse community members for the NBTSA through workshops and conversations at the Wonderland Lake trailhead, neighborhood coffee shops, grocery stores, parks and online. They engaged hundreds of Wonderland neighbors from low-income and high-income backgrounds, English speakers and Spanish speakers, and young and old. My organization, Growing Up Boulder, which seeks to include young people’s voices in local decisions that affect them, partnered with the city’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department to include almost 100 children and youth, ages 3-18, in the NBTSA outreach. Here is what we heard.
“People are always telling us to get out and enjoy nature, but then we can’t do anything with it but walk,” a 9-year-old boy informed us at the NBTSA family participation day in July 2015. Instead, he suggested the city add “a boardwalk with viewing hole, so I can watch the fish and ducks without scaring them.” Preschool children made similar recommendations during their trip to Wonderland Lake. During the interpretive walk to Wonderland Lake, facilitators also noticed that the trail was not wide enough to accommodate children’s frequent stops for snacks, water and observations. The group decided that a wider path and pullouts with shade might help young children make the journey to the lake.
Children ages 3-11 wanted access to nature so that they could view wildlife, play with sand, touch the water, get their feet wet, peer into the shallows for tadpoles, and generally experience Rachel Carson’s sense of wonder that is critical in developing care for, knowledge about, and long-term interest in nature.
Meanwhile, Junior Rangers, teenagers who work for OSMP during the summer, requested improved access to the beach and water at Wonderland Lake. Because the location of trails was not clear, and people walked in areas where they were not supposed to, the teens felt that boardwalks could help define access and protect sensitive wildlife.
In summary, Boulder’s young people requested close-up, tactile and respectful interactions with nature. This is what I believe the OSMP designs represented. The designs were not meant to turn Wonderland Lake into Coney Island, but instead to offer opportunities that would simultaneously protect and allow for direct experiences with nature. Not only did children share what they wished for Wonderland Lake, but they shared how impactful this civic engagement process itself was to them. One Junior Ranger summarized the experience by saying, “We felt honored that they came to us and gave us a chance to participate in the decision-making process at such a young age. It was nice to have a day to think and reflect on our times in OSMP … while you knew you were contributing to something real.” This engagement, and the city’s responsiveness to it, have since been internationally recognized as an example of best practice in the area-youth participatory planning.
In moving forward, I request that City Council, city staff and the community honor the input that these young people, and so many others, contributed in 2015. Please do not discard suggestions from the 2015 outreach process in favor of public outcry from 2019; instead, let’s sit down side-by-side, new voices and old, and young and old, to talk and listen to each other about how to make our natural spaces engaging for all ages, backgrounds and abilities. Boulder, let us listen our young people’s voices and show that we are the international example of inclusive youth engagement that others believe us to be.
February 8, 2019
Deadline to Get on Board! Feb 15th 5pm…
Are you one of the 106 civic-minded Boulderites who registered for one or both of our “Get on Board (or Commission)!” events in January? Weren’t able to make it but you’re still interested in applying for a position?
We wanted to remind you about the 5pm application deadline on February 15th, and provide some helpful resources. We strongly encourage you to apply. It is a great way to help shape our community and with 20 or so boards with varying time commitments you are sure to find one that fits.
If you would like assistance with finding the right board, completing your application, or preparing for the interview, please contact us to schedule a phone consultation. Here are all the ways to reach us:
Email: info@OpenBoulder.org | text: 303-818-2032
Message us on Facebook or Instagram or tweet at us on Twitter
Please share! The more people get engaged, the better local government works.
Resources
- Open Boulder Overview Presentation of Boards and Commissions with useful links
- Notes on Bob’s Advice for Getting on Boards and Commissions
- City of Boulder Boards and Commissions Website
- Clip from KGNU
- Facebook live video of the January 16th event.
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Thank you and good luck from the Open Boulder Board!
January 18, 2019
Open Boulder featured on KGNU
“Get on Board (or Commission!)” seminars engaging community to get involved in local governance.