Residents of Boulder's University Heights neighborhood concerned about University of Colorado's plan for new housing

A Colorado neighborhood with houses dating back to the 1950s is now at the center of a zoning controversy. In Boulder's University Heights, some neighbors are fighting against the University of Colorado's plan to build six- to eight-story dormitories next door to their homes.

David Spiro has lived in University Heights for 27 years and liked it. But he's now bracing for big changes.

"We're going to have new neighbors," Spiro said.

CU's plan for a multi-floor, mixed use student housing development was announced last month. It would mean Spiro might soon have more than 1,000 college students living right near his property line.

"We were very concerned," he said. "We moved into a neighborhood adjacent to the university, and we loved being a part of it, so we knew something might happen, but the scale of this really concerned us."

"With these tall buildings behind us, there's concern about noise, there's concern about the utilities not being sufficient to be able to handle all of that. There's concerns about parking," he said.

University Heights is zoned for single family homes. But once something becomes CU property, the zoning becomes public. That means developers can buy land, transfer it to CU and build complexes.

And while there has been some communication about the plan, Spiro says he wants to be more involved. He wondered about the university: "Do you truly want to be good neighbors? Are you going to be doing things to try to include us in some things that are going on?"

"Just please enter into more of a dialog with us that both of our needs are met," he said.

The university declined to interview but said in a statement in part: "Providing on-campus housing is a major driver of student success ... CU Boulder and the developer have hosted a pair of neighborhood meetings ... input from the neighbors has proven invaluable as we work through the design process..."

Spiro hopes to learn more from university officials before anything is finalized.

"Are we happy about it? No, are we prepared for it? Yes," he said.

The original timeline construction could begin as early as summer 2026, with a targeted opening in fall 2028. But some delays could push that back to an unknown date.