BOULDER — Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.’s planned expansion at its Boulder campus is sailing its way through the city’s review and approval process, and residents likely won’t have to wait more than a couple of months for the opportunity to have their thoughts on the proposal heard by Boulder leaders. The first two big steps toward approval — working with consultants to draft a development application and the submission of a conceptual plan for review — have already occurred. Prior to approaching city planners, “an applicant would typically engage consultants, including engineers, architects and land-use attorneys. They would prepare a general proposal that’s typically presented to city staff formally during the application process, which is ongoing now,” Boulder planning and development services director Jacob Lindsey told BizWest. “That process begins with a pre-application meeting, then a formal application is submitted in the form of a concept plan. Staff review that concept plan and provide comments to the applicant. Then that plan is reviewed during a public hearing by the planning board.” Ball filed its concept plan on Jan. 25. “Any concept plan that’s filed is a matter of public record, and anyone can view them just by going on to [Boulder’s city government] website,” Lindsey said. According to the plan, Ball is proposing to add 375,000 square feet on the roughly 27-acre site at 1600 Commerce St. The expansion, which is expected to be built in phases over the next decade or so, could more than double the campus’ workforce to nearly 2,000 employees. City planners are set to return their comments to Ball on Feb. 12. Between now and mid-February, the concept plan could be reviewed by Boulder’s Development Review Committee, an internal board made up of city staff that meets weekly “should there be a complex item of interpretation or a need to coordinate with other departments,” Lindsey said. So long as the concept review doesn’t reveal major issues with the application that need to be revised — which can, and does, happen — the Ball proposal will go before the Planning Board for a public hearing “most likely in March or April,” Lindsey said. The Planning Board reviews the project to ensure that it meets city building and design criteria and issues its recommendation. From there, the approval process is in the hands of the Boulder City Council. “An interesting facet of Boulder’s city government is that our council members have the ability to ‘call up’ many of the decisions that are made by the lower boards, and that’s certainly the case with the Planning Board,” Lindsey said. The council could call up the project and review it more. Should the council approve the project, Ball would be free to begin applying for building permits. If the council nixes Ball’s proposal, the project goes back to the drawing board so long as Ball doesn’t appeal. Ball’s campus is a bit unique in that construction on the site is regulated not only by normal city land-use regulations, […]