8/6/26: Public Hearing on SBRC Ballot Language

URGENT:  On 8/6/26, City Council is holding a public hearing on a bond measure for the November election.  We do not support the measure as currently drafted, but will support if Council adds binding language for SBRC to keep its existing features in any reno/replacement facility.  Please:  (1) Email Council today with that same message!  (2) Speak/attend Aug 6 hearing - no limit on # of speakers.  We need to leverage our voting power now to get this right!  

Background:

On July 23, Council held the first reading of a ballot measure that would ask voters this November to approve a $400 million bond (with a $650 million repayment obligation and a $32.5 million property tax) for City capital projects.

SBRC is listed in the draft ballot language, but the draft includes no binding language protecting SBRC’s existing features in any renovated or replacement facility.  By the time SBRC is addressed, costs will have risen, City staff will have changed, and Boulder will have a new City Council.  And, without protection for SBRC’s existing features in the ballot language, the bond money can be used to replace SBRC with any type of rec facility (e.g., an indoor soccer warehouse, a specialized competition facility, or any other rec facility that lacks the features that SBRC users have relied on for decades).  

We sent Council a formal letter on July 23 (full text below) requesting binding language that would protect SBRC’s existing features in any renovated or replacement facility.  August 6 is the public hearing when we can all show up to ensure Council adds this language to the ballot measure.  Please attend!  Please speak!  

What we need from you:

• Email City Council today.  Tell them you will support the bond IF the ballot language ensures SBRC will keep its existing features in any reno/replacement facility (lap pool, basketball gym, outdoor soccer field, beach volleyball, tennis courts, disc golf). https://bouldercolorado.gov/contact-city-council-and-staff
• Sign up to speak at the August 6 hearing.  Because it’s a public hearing, every person who signs up before the deadline will get to speak.  We need to urge Council to add ballot language protecting SBRC’s existing features.  Signup opens July 31 at 8:00am:  https://bouldercolorado.formstack.com/forms/sign_up_for_public_hearing  

Thank you for your help!

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[Full text of July 23 letter to Council below]

Dear City Council,

As you know, our grassroots campaign has mobilized thousands of residents who are rallying for SBRC to retain the existing features that residents have relied on for decades.  For that reason, we have reviewed the draft of Ordinance 8758 (scheduled for first reading today, July 23rd, and second reading on August 6th) and, as explained below, we respectfully request that Council direct staff to incorporate two additional provisions before second reading on August 6.  

As currently drafted, Ordinance 8758 would ask voters this November to authorize $400 million in debt —carrying a repayment cost of up to $650 million and a new property tax of up to $32.5 million annually, on top of the $350 million repayment obligation voters authorized in November 2025— to fund a list of capital projects that includes SBRC only as one example within an illustrative, non-binding “such as” list.  Although that illustrative reference includes “aquatic amenities,” it contains no enforceable commitment that SBRC will retain its existing lap pool, indoor basketball gym, or any of the other features that residents have relied on since 1974.  Indeed, because SBRC appears only within a non-exclusive “such as” list, even an express mention of those features would not create a mandatory obligation to preserve them.  As a result, Ordinance 8758 would ask residents to assume up to $650 million in repayment obligations without any enforceable commitment that SBRC’s existing features will survive, leaving SBRC vulnerable to losing amenities, having amenities diminished, or even being replaced with a field house or some other magnet facility using the funds provided by this very measure. 

This is why there must be a mandatory provision specific to SBRC, incorporated directly into the ballot measure language, guaranteeing that if residents undertake this $650 million repayment obligation, SBRC will, at minimum, retain its existing features.  With that provision included in Ordinance 8758 and the companion ballot measure, we will actively support the bond’s passage. Without it, we will actively oppose the bond.

1. BALLOT TEXT PROVISION TO BE INSERTED IN ORDINANCE 8758 AND IN COMPANION BALLOT MEASURE

We ask that this language be inserted into Section 3 of Ordinance 8758, immediately after item (VI) and before the paragraph beginning “IN ORDER TO SUPPORT RECREATION, SAFETY, AND CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS...”  We ask that the full “notwithstanding the foregoing or any other provision hereof” scope of the opening phrase be preserved, since a narrower phrase (e.g., “notwithstanding the foregoing” alone) could be read as leaving the measure's broader “community recreation, safety infrastructure, and other capital projects” authorization free to reopen the discretion this provision is meant to close.

“. . . (VI) THE MUNICIPAL SERVICE CENTER (TO SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES, SUCH AS SNOW REMOVAL, UTILITY MAINTENANCE, AND CITY STREET OPERATIONS); 

PROVIDED THAT, NOTWITHSTANDING THE FOREGOING OR ANY OTHER PROVISION HEREOF, AN AMOUNT SUFFICIENT TO RENOVATE, RECONSTRUCT, REPLACE, OR MAINTAIN THE SOUTH BOULDER RECREATION CENTER AT ITS CURRENT LOCATION WITHIN PARCEL 157708000001, COMMONLY KNOWN AS HARLOW PLATTS COMMUNITY PARK, SHALL BE EXPENDED AS NECESSARY TO ENSURE THAT THE SOUTH BOULDER RECREATION CENTER RETAINS, AT MINIMUM, THE FOLLOWING FEATURES IN WORKING ORDER, WHICH ARE ESSENTIAL TO THIS MEASURE: A 25-YARD 6-LANE LAP POOL WITH DIVING WELL, AN INDOOR DOUBLE-COURT BASKETBALL GYM, AN OUTDOOR FULL-SIZE SOCCER FIELD, DEDICATED STRENGTH-TRAINING AND CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS AREAS EQUIPPED WITH APPROPRIATE EQUIPMENT, DEDICATED GROUP EXERCISE CLASSROOMS, 4 TENNIS COURTS ALSO LINED AS 8 PICKLEBALL COURTS, 9-HOLE OUTDOOR DISC GOLF COURSE, AND 4 OUTDOOR SAND VOLLEYBALL COURTS; 

IN ORDER TO SUPPORT RECREATION, SAFETY, AND CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS OF ALL AGES; . . .”

A few notes on the intent behind this drafting:

We deliberately did not propose a fixed dollar figure because SBRC is not expected to be addressed immediately. A dollar amount established today would likely become inaccurate over time and could even be construed as a ceiling that undermines the commitment if future costs increase. Tying the obligation to the required outcome—retention of the existing features in working order—avoids that problem.

We also deliberately used “renovate, reconstruct, replace, or maintain” rather than specifying a single method of retaining SBRC’s features because if, for example, renovation ultimately proves more cost-effective, that option should remain available. Likewise, if replacement ultimately proves more cost-effective, that option should remain available.

2. FINDING TO BE INSERTED IN ORDINANCE 8758

We also ask that Ordinance 8758 include the following as a new Section 4A, between the existing Section 4 (project list) and Section 5 (necessity finding):

"Section 4A. The City Council finds and declares that (a) the siting of the South Boulder Recreation Center building at its current location within the City-owned real property identified by Boulder County Assessor Parcel Number 157708000001, commonly known as Harlow Platts Community Park, and (b) the retention, at minimum, of the following features on that property, in working order: a 25-yard, 6-lane lap pool with diving well, an indoor double-court basketball gym, an outdoor full-size soccer field, dedicated strength-training and cardiovascular fitness areas equipped with appropriate equipment, dedicated indoor exercise classrooms, 4 tennis courts also lined as 8 pickleball courts, a 9-hole outdoor disc golf course, and 4 outdoor sand volleyball courts, as set forth in Section 3 above, each constitute an essential element of the basic intent of this Ordinance for purposes of City Charter Section 54.

Any future amendment to this Ordinance that (i) eliminates or materially diminishes any of the features enumerated above, or (ii) relocates the building in which the Center's indoor facilities are housed, shall be deemed to alter or modify the basic intent of this Ordinance, and any such amendment shall accordingly require submission to and approval by a vote of the people in accordance with City Charter Section 54."

Given that our goal is modest —simply to keep the features that SBRC has had for decades— and given that thousands of residents are rallying for SBRC to retain these features, we believe including these provisions is a reasonable and narrowly-tailored ask.  This is especially true when measured against the $650 million repayment obligation and $32.5 million in new annual property taxes being asked of voters, on top of the $350 million repayment obligation voters already authorized in November 2025.  Taken together, residents are being asked to shoulder up to $1 billion in combined repayment obligations within a 12-month span.  Against this backdrop, we respectfully request that Council direct staff to incorporate these provisions before second reading on August 6th.

Thank you for your time and consideration.