The Planning Commission met on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, together with representatives from SE Group. SE Group has been contracted by the Town of Nederland to draft a new Comprehensive Plan, a guiding document meant to provide policy recommendations pertaining to annexation, economic development, land use, recreation, and tourism.

Ayden Eickhoff and Gabby Voeller of SE Group led Commissioners in a discussion regarding the drafting of the Comprehensive Plan, specifically the creation of a Three-Mile Plan and determining the permitted uses for land zoned as Industrial.

According to SE Group, each chapter within the plan will contain an overall vision statement pertaining to that chapter’s topic. These vision statements are expected to include the sentiments of statements on similar topics drafted for Envision 2030 and other guiding documents.

Each chapter will include a vision statement, high level bullet points about current issues and notes from relevant discussions, a recapitulation of public engagement made by SE Group regarding the chapter’s topic, and then recommended goals, policies, and next steps towards resolving the stated issues.

The land use chapter, the focus for the Commission’s discussion, is expected to contain more direct data, such as a Three-Mile Plan, a land use map, and targeted recommendations for changes to land zoning and to municipal code.

The many different chapters of the plan will be shaped considering the four pillars of Resiliency: leadership and strategy, health and wellbeing, economy and society, and infrastructure and ecosystems.

SE Group specified that they were utilizing “resiliency framework that seemed tangible at the municipal level.” Resiliency measures are intended to be used in conjunction with Sustainability measures in order to promote natural conservation and healthy development.

Commissioners discussed the development of Nederland’s Three-Mile Plan by analyzing a map of properties within three miles of the municipal border. The properties on the map were flagged for the possibility of annexation into the Town as a result of information SE Group had gathered from research and public outreach.

A Three-Mile Plan provides municipalities with a framework from which to determine the viability of land to be annexed into the Town, including listing which properties are most eligible for annexation and stating how the Town could efficiently provide services to the new property while continuing to maintain services to the entire municipality.

The Commission considered the location of each property or subdivision; whether they were on unincorporated land, Boulder County open space, or U.S. Forest Service land; and analyzed the distance to any floodplains, to the watershed, or to any wildlife corridors.

Regarding determining the criteria to be used by the Commission and Board of Trustees (BOT) while considering an application for annexation from a property or subdivision, SE Group asked for access to a cost analysis which would include the net benefit or net cost for annexing the neighborhoods in question.

Town Administrator Jonathan Cain suggested looking into the Utilities budget for that information, and added that any properties in the three miles outside of Nederland that are holding ground water rights should be considered a benefit to the Town.

There was some discussion about educating the public about annexation, as some Commissioners stated concern that many residents believe it is a “land grab” by the Town. In fact, an annexation is applied for by a property owner who desires their property or properties to be encompassed into the whole of the municipality, becoming connected to the Town’s infrastructure and services.

The concern was raised as to whether a referendum petition by the public could result in an approved annexation being rescinded, as was the case in Steamboat Springs, which rejected the annexation of Brown Ranch for affordable housing. Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen reiterated that an annexation is a legislative decision, with the BOT having the ultimate say.

Nederland’s annexation policy specifies that annexation applications go through a public process. Mayor Pro Tem Nichole Sterling noted that the process was added into Town code because it was assumed that most annexation applications would be dealt with by a public vote via petition.

Sterling also noted that Nederland’s Intergovernmental Agreement with Boulder County was up for renegotiation and that it was unknown whether the County would want to have any say in Nederland’s annexations. Sterling added that if the County wanted such control then there were some concessions that the Town of Nederland might request.

Commissioners also discussed the potential of rezoning lots classified as Industrial or changing the Use Group Table in Nederland Municipal Code (NMC) to allow for other uses, ideally housing, to be built on Industrial-zoned property. Sterling expressed a desire to hear feedback on this issue from SE Group, since language in Chapter 16 of NMC prohibits housing being built on Industrial-zoned lots.

SE Group offered their initial analysis of Nederland’s Industrial zone, the Wolf Tongue Mill and five properties currently operating as non-conforming residential use, and stated their belief that it was underutilized. The importance of a municipality maintaining an Industrial zone was mentioned, though it was added that, because of Nederland’s need for housing, some rezoning could be considered appropriate.

Cain also added that industrial zones create opportunities for distilleries and recreation-related businesses to operate.

SE Group agreed to include language within the Comprehensive Plan that states the Town’s interest in further exploring changes to the uses allowed on Industrial-zoned land. Commissioners Mike Dye and Linda Glasser both expressed that the owners of the five properties operating as residential should be notified if and when the Town discusses such land use rules.

Sterling spoke to her view that Mining should be removed from the Use Group Table as an allowable use on Industrial-zoned properties, due to her belief that any mining operation so close to the creek would be met with immediate ire from the community.

SE Group noted that Leadville was currently experiencing some of their historic mines reopening due to a surge in the price of minerals, and that there was the potential of a mining company bidding to set up a new operation if the Wolf Tongue Mill property were to ever be put on the market.

Though the Commission made no final decision or recommendation regarding removing mining as an allowable use for Industrial-zoned properties, there was consensus among Commissioners that mining operations were no longer desired in Town and that the discussion should be revisited.

SE Group expects to have a draft of the Comprehensive Plan deliverable by late September or early October, with a presentation and final opportunity for community feedback to take place in mid to late October. Two rounds of edits on the plan are expected to take place in November and December, with adoption of the Plan scheduled for December.

The Nederland Planning Commission meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Their next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 28 at 7 p.m. Meetings can be attended online via WebEx. For more information: https://townofnederland.colorado.gov/ planning-commission.