The Nederland Board of Trustees approved a liquor license for Decent Bagel, and a parking variance for Busey Brews during a regular, virtual meeting on October 5, 2021, at 7 p.m. The Board also discussed a timeline for the Town Marshal recruitment, the Colorado Community Revitalization Grant, and Nederland Codes regarding off-street parking and loading.

Decent Bagel

Decent Market LLC (dba Decent Bagel) sought a Malt, Vinous & Spirituous Hotel & Restaurant (City) license with the Colorado Liquor Licensing Authority and the Town of Nederland. Decent Bagel will be operating at 95 E. First Street.

Representing the restaurant, Austin Gemmell said that Decent Bagel is a new take on restaurants in Nederland, offering breakfast, lunch, and tasteful cocktails to enjoy after hiking and skiing. They assert they won’t have any issues because of their experience in the hospitality industry and will maintain compliance with codes.

They plan to do tapas -- small plates -- with good food and upscale cocktails. Mike Gephardt said he is from New York but he loves Nederland. “We really want to be part of the community and can add our taste to it,”

During public comment, residents said they were looking forward to the bagels and cocktails. The Board approved the liquor license application.

Busey Brews

Town Administrator Miranda Fisher introduced a variance request for 70 E. 1st Street, decreasing the number of required parking spaces for that business. Busey Brews has pulled a building permit to complete an exterior back deck remodel and expansion.

The establishment is required to provide 35 off-street parking spaces for their restaurant. The off-street parking space calculations are provided by the property owner based on the total number of tables in the restaurant and number of staff working.

Currently, Busey Brews does not have any off-street parking spaces on site. The current owner, Kyle Busey, said that the building was exempt from having to meet parking requirements.

If Busey decided to pay into the commercial parking fund for all 35 required off-street parking spaces, the cost of that payment would be $87,500. Olivia Bermudez, registered agent for Tulsa2Properties and property owner of 80 E. 1st Street, has given permission for Busey Brews to use their lot for parking, with 12 spaces available on this lot.

Busey would like to use three spaces for staff and nine for customers. Town staff recommended a 45 percent reduction in required parking spaces for a total of 19. Since Busey Brews has already received approval to use 12 parking spaces at 80 E. 1st Street, if approved the brewpub would need to provide seven additional spaces either on a neighboring lot within 300 feet or pay into the commercial parking fund for $17,500.

Town staff requested that the Board discuss the off-street parking code and consider revisions. Staff are concerned that a precedent will be set if a business seeks and receives a variance when they cannot comply with the code for off-street parking, in which case the Board will have to continue to review these applications. This means that the enforcement of the off-street parking code will no longer be handled administratively.

When businesses are unable to meet their on-site parking, this also brings into question their compliance with providing a loading zone on site. Code states, “Loading areas shall be of adequate size and design to facilitate all loading activities off a public right-of-way.” Busey said that as far as loading goes, nothing will change with the expansion at all. Fisher said that staff doesn’t have concerns if the Board goes with 12 spaces.

Mayor Pro-tem Jonathan Baumhover said the current code is dysfunctional enough that this has to come before the Board. “It’s a very unfortunate circumstance that we are spending our time that does not reflect a town where revenue comes from businesses.” This is our job, he said, to make sure we have codes that build up our businesses.

It should not escape the Board that this is a great issue, Baumhover said. He asked that the Board pass this tonight and allow Busey Brews the variance, because it is in the best interests for the community. “Our current codes are dysfunctional and are distracting this board from major objectives,”

The Board agreed to pass the variance for Busey Brews. Mayor Kristopher Larsen said they will memorialize that in a resolution for the consent agenda at the next meeting.

Community Center Lighting

The Board approved $7,500 for Community Center Lighting, with Baumhover recusing himself because his mother manages the Community Center.

Community Center Manager Dawn Baumhover requested the funding for the 2021 improvements to the stone garage for lighting upgrades. The existing lighting is 15 years old, and they would like to replace that with LED lighting with 40 fixtures and four bulbs in each fixture.

Marshal Recruitment

Following the resignation of Marshal Larry Johns, who will be leaving in May 2022, Staff formed an initial application review committee of Miranda Fisher, Christy Ruehman, HR Specialist, and two Board of Trustee members. The full application review committee will consist of Department Heads, two trustees, and four community members selected by the Trustees.

Town staff recommend having community members wishing to sit on the committee submit letters of interest. The Board will then select those who will participate in the application review at the October 19 meeting. Letters of interest would need to be submitted by Wednesday, October 13.

Fisher said that on November 5 the initial committee will meet and narrow candidates to three. Candidates could be interviewed November 15 to 18 with a forum for trustees, and on December 21 the new candidate would be selected.

Colorado Community Revitalization Grant and Parking

On September 7, 2021, the Board of Trustees approved Town staff applying for the Colorado Community Revitalization Grant with the Old Town Shop (750 W. 5th Street) as the site location. The Colorado Community Revitalization Grant Program is intended to support creative projects in commercial centers that would combine revitalized or newly constructed commercial spaces with public or community spaces.

Staff recommend scaling back the scope of the project and adding affordable housing. They recommend using the first floor for the Food Pantry, Clothing Closet, and space for additional health and human service organizations and the creative community.

On the second floor, they recommend adding affordable housing units and suggest keeping the size of the building the same to accommodate the modified uses. Alternative or supplemental funding opportunities are available.

Based on the feedback received, grant writer Jennifer Waltz prepared a “Pursuit Plan” which outlines what benchmarks need to be achieved before submitting the pre-application and be eligible for funding. After much discussion exploring other sites for the grant and much public comment both in favor and against using the Old Town Shop as the site location, Fisher said she would pull together a strategy for extensive public outreach on uses of Town-owned property.

Regarding parking, after a long discussion the Board agreed on a work session that brings in the Planning Commission and Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA) to look into long-term solutions.

The next Nederland Board of Trustees meeting will be virtual on October 19, 2021. For more information, go to https://nederlandco.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=391