BOCO Commissioners to hear staff request to withdraw application

March 4, 2021 - WATCH THE COMMISSIONERS DECIDE THE FUTURE OF OPEN SPACE LIVE!

• Public Meeting: SU-20-0006 (Boulder County Composting Facility)

• Date/time: Thursday, March 4, 2021 at 1 p.m.

• Join: Zoom Webinar Attendee Link: https://boco.org/BOCC-March42021

• Action Requested: Discussion/Staff requests direction from the Board

Alternatively, to call-in to the meeting: Dial 833 568 8864, Webinar ID: 160 326 0234

When a development application is active, Commissioners are prohibited from discussing the matter with anyone. However, as soon as the application is "withdrawn" County Staff, EcoCycle, and other advocates will be free to lobby the Commissioners directly and build internal support for a resubmittal. If that happens, the process starts all over again.

Legal Response to BOCO’s request for dismissal

February 27, 2021 - Boulder County requested to have the Open Space protection lawsuit dismissed. To read the response showing how this lawsuit protects open space lands and responsible use of taxpayer funds click here.

Erie Trustees send letter opposing facility to Boulder County

February 17, 2021 - The Town of Erie Board of Trustees heard a consistent voice of disapproval from their constituents during their recent Board meeting. One of the actions chose was to send a strong letter of opposition to Boulder County on behalf of the community. Read the letter here.

Lawsuit Updated with Tabor Claim

January 26, 2021 -A TABOR claim has been added to Open Space protection lawsuit filed against Boulder County by impacted neighbors. When elected officials receive voter approval for a restricted tax for the narrow purpose to fund the purchase, maintenance, and protection of Open Space, it is expected those lands won’t later be used for industrial development. To read the amended complaint, click here.

OSPA Members file suit against Boulder County!

Three members of OSPA filed suit against Boulder County to prevent their abuse of public Open Space and violation of a binding, perpetual Conservation Easement. Click here to download the full complaint and all exhibits.

On October 6, 2020 Boulder County graciously let 12 residents in on its little secret…watch for yourself below.

Compost facility: Public support for open space jeopardized

Daily Camera - January 17, 2021

Fool me once, as the saying goes, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

And so it goes when local Boulder politicians continue to violate the letter and spirit of the open space promises they made to justify the decades-long open space tax. If Boulder County can’t keep a promise, why should we continue funding open space?

In the 1990s, Boulder County took the self-described extraordinary step of using taxpayer money to purchase a perpetual conservation easement on the Rainbow Tree Farm. The land, the county commissioners said, embodied such important values that it justified protection and preservation forever. The county went further still and purchased the land outright, again using taxpayer money, and added it to the Boulder County Open Space inventory.

In October 2020, cloaked beneath a crushing pandemic, the county violated its own policies and broke its solemn promise to taxpayers. The county applied to itself to seek its own approval to completely erase the conservation easement we the taxpayers purchased, and to transfer our open space to Public Works so they can clear-cut 40 acres of trees, pave the land and build a $10 million industrial waste-processing factory.

The inherent problem is this: In such matters, Boulder County is the landowner, developer, applicant, receiver of the applicant, reviewer of the applicant, the Planning Commission, approver, check writer and operator. Checks and balances: zero.

It doesn’t matter what shiny new purpose today’s commissioners believe is worthy — either open space lands are so exceptional they warrant spending millions to protect and preserve forever, or they are not.

Boulder County’s latest move sadly demonstrates once again it simply cannot be trusted to resist the temptation to violate promises made to satisfy its latest whim.

Fool me once …

Susan Lambert

KHOW Radio Denver Features Boulder Compost!

Delaware Compost Facility Using Boulder’s “Advanced GORE” Technology Ordered Closed Due to HORRIFIC Odor Impacts

Boulder County Publishes Deadline for Comments

On November 6, 2020, Boulder County sent a postcard to a small number of nearby residents in its campaign to fast-track its approval of its own plans to develop an industrial facility on Open Space. The postcard sets a December 11, 2020 deadline for comments on their proposal to develop Rainbow Open Space. CLICK HERE to see the postcard and to learn what you can do.

Boulder County Special Use Review Application

On October 6th Boulder County hosted its first meeting with neighbors of Rainbow Open Space. County Spokesman, Andrew Barth, assured neighbors, “don’t worry…this is is not a done deal…we are in the earliest stages of exploration.” Only five days later, on October 11, 2020, PEH Architects, hired by Boulder County and paid with Boulder County taxpayer money, submitted a 235-page application for Special Use Review…to Boulder County.

If you’d like to see how your tax dollars are being used to enable the abuse of open space you paid to preserve and protect, you can download the County’s petition to itself by clicking here: Boulder County Application to Boulder County to Construct & Operate Industrial Composting Facility on Open Space Land.

The Maps

Boulder County has submitted maps revealing the location of its proposed industrial-scale compost/human-waste processing facility is in fact Open Space, is designated as National and State Agricultural Lands of Significance, overlaps Wetlands, and is fully located in the middle of an Environmental Conservation Area. Click here to download the maps and learn how the County aims to abuse Open Space.

Industrial-Scale Waste Treatment

It is important to be informed of how massive a waste treatment facility Boulder County is attempting to build on Open Space land. The County is quick to claim, “Composting is green…it’s good…it’s an agricultural use!” The reality is, the scale of composting the County is proposing is in fact a massive industrial process that is completely in conflict with the surrounding agriculture and residential uses. Click here to see for yourself precisely what Boulder County wants to build on Open Space.

Boulder County Protects Weld County Open Space, Tries to Develop its Own!

On October 28, 2020 County Commissioners expressed their outrage that Extraction Oil & Gas filed a development plan for a piece of land on which Boulder County owns a Conservation Easement. Ironically, days earlier, the same Commissioners submitted a plan to develop a 40-acre toxic compost dump on Open Space lands on which it also purchased a conservation easement. You can read the County’s press release here!

More to come…check back often!