Barbara Lawlor, Nederland. It is slow going, but the Evans Aspen Trails Annexation application process is making headway after being bounced around Nederland and Boulder County planning boards.

The annexation application has been in the works for the past year and a half. Submitted by Arapaho Ranch owner Kayla Evans to create a 17-acre affordable dwelling complex, the application has been hugely supported by the Nederland community. Those in opposition include bordering neighbors and some members of the Eldora Civic Association community.

The property is located next to the Eldora Road, north of the Nederland Middle Senior High School and hidden from view in a forest-bordered bowl in the terrain.

Consisting of three 20-unit pods, the housing complex has proximity to two RTD stops within walking distance and just a few blocks from downtown Nederland.

On March 5, the Evans proposal went before the Boulder County Commissioners for the second time, with at least 30 Nederland area people speaking in favor of the project. The commissioners didn't deny or approve the project but said they needed clarification on a couple of points.

Evans is waiting to hear from them. After a year of going from board to board and through the gamut of permitting and surveys, she is anxious to move forward—to bring the vote to the people in November, the last of the annexation process. Even then, it would be three years before any keys are turned.

The Arapaho Ranch was purchased in 1947 by Evans' grandparents, and parents Lee and Parvena. When the Evanses divorced in the 1960s, Kayla's dad got the west parcel and the Evans children got the east parcel. When the Boulder Valley School District did an eminent domain action, claiming the land for the NMSHS, a 17-acre parcel was left isolated between the school and the highway, unbuildable because of the 35-acre requirement.

In the early 80s, when the Evanses received a conservation easement for their property, the 17-acre piece was not included. Evans says, "When the town of Nederland did a comprehensive plan, looking at annexation options, they didn't see this parcel and didn't think it was possible."

Nederland is ringed by open space, forest service land, and county property. The 17 acres in the proposal is "suitable for annexation and desirable. It is contiguous to the town and has two points of public transportation. The bus doesn't serve any other point in town as well. Someone could live here without owning a car."

There is no question that there is a need for housing. Those who oppose the annexation say that the town should be infilled first, but even that wouldn't meet the housing needs. According to town surveys, at least 210 dwellings are needed; there are plenty of renters for both infill and the 60 units in the housing proposal.

NMSHS principal Adam Fels told the commissioners that five of seven of his new teachers cannot find affordable housing in the Nederland area. Evans says, "We are losing good teachers because of a lack of housing, which has the trickle-down effect of students leaving. It behooves us to keep our teachers to keep a healthy school. If seniors move to the housing complex, more homes will become available, more rental places in town."

She says it is time to dream big, to finish the trail from town to the high school so the kids walking to school are safe. This is an opportunity to link town trails to West Magnolia trails.

One of the 2020 Vision goals most often mentioned is to have a swimming pool. Evans says she would donate the land adjacent to the school, then seek grants to build a pool with a partnership with the school to maintain it. It's a dream, but the annexation makes it possible to dream, she says. A solar-powered greenhouse could fill the school salad bar and a living science lab could enhance STEM options.

But the best part, says Evans, is that there would be the option of annexing the school back into town someday.

Local architect Henry Zurbrugg did the design and Evans says the project will benefit local employees for the next couple of years, adding to the town tax base.

Since the original application in 2013, Evans first took the annexation proposal to the Nederland Planning Board for review. At that time it was denied: four votes against, two votes for. After obtaining topographical maps, Evans went back to the board, who said they'd send it on to the Nederland Board of Trustees. At the time, the BOT deferred the vote to the Boulder County Planning Board who denied the recommendation, citing it was against the Inter-government Agreement policy on annexation. "Infill works great," they advised.

The chair of the board, however, said the application should be allowed to run through the process and ultimately be left up to the people of the town.

In January, Evans went to the Nederland Planning Board for the third time, asking for three minutes on the public comment agenda. It was shortly after the Nederland Housing Needs Assessment became available and the board allowed her to speak for 40 minutes, asking in depth questions about the proposal.

Evans asked them to take another vote and they unanimously supported the suggestion to allow the process to continue, to get it to the Nederland residents.

On March 5, at the Boulder County Commissioners meeting, a long list of Nederland people asked to speak.

Justine Irwin, a long-time active member of the Nederland Area Seniors and a former member of the advisory council for the Boulder County Area Agency on Aging, said that in 2006 the Nederland Area Historical Society purchased land on First Street and opposed a senior housing project similar to one in Lyons.

"This project died a natural death while waiting for a zoning change and wetlands resolution, followed by the 2008 economic collapse. The Aspen Trail Annexation makes rational sense. I urge you to set aside current land use code restrictions to move this proposal to the Nederland Town Ballot. Let the people most affected by it make the final decision."

Nederland Fire Protection District Chief Rick Dirr told the Commissioners that housing is an essential need to maintaining a young, healthy population in the area, a source of community volunteers.

Ace Hardware owner Steve Culver said housing is needed to keep a viable work force.  Centennial Bank Manager Susan Schneider told the Commissioners that only one of the bank employees lives in Nederland; that the others had to find housing elsewhere.

Those who opposed the project, many of them summer residents, said they objected to the increase in traffic that the development would bring. One Eldora woman said that someone has to speak for the flowers.

It is waiting time for the Aspen Trails project. The best possible news is that the proposal will be able to travel through the process all the way to a vote in November.

Evans says, "Considering how urgent the housing need is now, even if we are able to move forward, just think how much larger the need will be in three years."