The Town of Nederland Planning Commission met on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at 7 p.m. to receive updates regarding the Multimodal Transportation Plan being drafted by Fehr & Peers, and the Tourism Management Strategy being created by the Town with guidance from the Colorado Tourism Office.

Commissioners heard a presentation from Carly Sieff of Fehr & Peers regarding the work the firm is doing on the Multimodal Transportation Plan. The plan aims to guide Nederland in creating convenient, accessible, safe, and sustainable transportation.

Fehr & Peers’ plan is currently in the development phase, during which their recommendations on policies, projects, and programs are drafted and prioritized.

Sieff highlighted those recommendations that pertained to the Commission’s interests, including redesign of the Town’s roundabout, traffic congestion at key areas, parking management and creation, and implementing a pedestrian-actuated traffic signal at the Highway 119 crosswalk in front of the Visitor’s Center.

For more information regarding all aspects of the current draft of the Multimodal Transportation Plan, please refer to the full coverage in this edition of The Mountain-Ear or online at https://www.themtnear.com.

Commissioners offered Sieff their feedback on the plan, focused mostly on the recommendation for a traffic signal in the center of the Town. The traffic signal would only turn red when a pedestrian presses a button at either end of the crosswalk; there would be a delay to allow vehicle traffic time to move comfortably through instead of being forced to instantly stop at the red light for crossing pedestrians.

The recommendations from Fehr & Peers for a traffic signal at the Visitor’s Center crosswalk, for speed cameras at the major entrances to Town, and the recommendation to institute neighborhood parking permits were all challenged by Commissioners and labeled as hot-button topics that would draw ire from the community.

Fehr & Peers will be continuing with more broad community engagement throughout the summer, and expect to have a fully drafted plan for the Board of Trustees to review by the end of the year.

The Commission also received a presentation from Nederland’s Public Engagement Manager Peter Cacek regarding the development of a Tourism Management Strategy. The purpose of the strategy is to create sustainable tourism initiatives through collaborative work with other Town boards, and with the Colorado Tourism Office, as part of their Destination Blueprint program.

Cacek presented the proposed actions that directly affect the Commission in order to receive feedback and suggestions from Commissioners regarding the listed goals and the recommended strategies to achieve them.

These goals include engaging the community and business stakeholders; educating and managing tourists; promoting businesses and local experiences; improving the tourist/community experience; and instituting tourism governance and partnerships.

Commissioners were asked to give feedback on the listed strategies to create communication platforms for both tourists and local businesses to distribute informational material; build awareness and engagement for tourism and marketing initiatives; manage tourism while protecting the Town’s culture through collaborative efforts; and to establish and utilize a system to monitor the impacts of tourism.

“To break it down into a single action, it’s to have tourism have a more viable economic impact on the Town without changing the Town,” Cacek answered, when asked by Commissioner Jim Reis to clarify what the Town’s tourism management strategy was. “It’s to utilize the traffic that we already see to better the community.”

Cacek also explained how social media, a distinct tourism-based website, and local resources and organizations like The Mountain-Ear, The Peak to Peak Chamber of Commerce, and the Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA), can help to spread the proposed informational material for tourists, as well as to build awareness and engagement on matters involving tourism.

Cacek explained that one of the major goals of the Tourism Management Strategy is to have the Nederland Visitor’s Center become a tourism hub that is self-sustainable and no longer a Town-budgeted resource. Commissioners were in support of this goal, and to the prospect of the Visitor’s Center falling under the purview of the NDDA.

The Commission was overall critical of the Tourism Management Strategy, stating that the ideas presented in the strategy were too complex and therefore too daunting. Commissioner Reis said that the strategy might be more fitting for a Town like Estes Park, as their infrastructure and economy is prepared for such endeavors.

“I think the presentation prior to yours opened our eyes to a lot of the problems that we’re facing right now,” Commissioner Linda Glasser said. “To be asked to focus on tourism ahead of those problems is making us think twice about what we need to do for the people that are here right now.”

Mayor Pro Tem Nichole Sterling expressed that the strategy felt more like listed topics for brainstorming as opposed to an implementable strategy. Commissioner Mike Dye agreed and stated that the goals listed within the strategy should have a process for being measured for success.

Sterling added that tourism initiatives can be aimed to satisfy both tourists’ and locals’ needs simultaneously, such as sidewalk and crosswalk improvements, additional parking creation, and wayfinding.

“If it’s good for locals, it’s great for tourism,” Cornell said in agreement.

Miranda Fisher led Commissioners in a presentation of her final Town Staff Report as Town Administrator. The May 22 meeting was Fisher’s last government meeting with the Town of Nederland.

Fisher began by explaining that Community Planner Britt DeMinck would be taking on some of Fisher’s responsibilities and would continue to lead the Planning Commission’s meetings.

“She’s an amazing asset to you and I know that she’s going to do a tremendous job,” Fisher said about DeMinck.

Commissioners used the discussion to thank Fisher for her service to the Town and to wish her luck in her future endeavors.

“I don’t think I would last three months before I lost my temper,” Commissioner Reis said about Fisher’s position. “The fact that you deal with the contentiousness and the stress…I just want to thank you for always bringing a positive attitude to things; it has provided a great example for the rest of us.”

The Nederland Planning Commission meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Their next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 26 at 7 p.m. Meetings can be attended online via WebEx.

For more information: https://townofnederland.colorado.gov/planning-commission.