Nederland faces a housing crisis, as does Colorado, as does the country. However, mountain communities, particularly those that rely on seasonal tourism, such as similar ski resort towns, suffer differently from the real estate bubble. The lack of affordable housing in these communities not only disregards the elderly and disabled, it also creates a worker shortage. But a housing crisis is just one more problem that Nederland has limited land with which to solve.

A Mountain Migration Report was published in June, 2021, by the United States Economic Development Administration, Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Colorado Association of Ski Towns, and Northwest Colorado Council of Governments. Data from this report, which studied six major mountain Colorado counties, indicated that residents ranked affordable housing and the availability of housing as the top two most critical issues facing their communities.

The report pointed to periods of intense growth pressure in mountain communities resulting in a “not-in- my-backyard” backlash. This backlash creates resistance to the actions necessary to address the challenges of gentrification and this housing emergency. Such reactions often impact attempts to create affordable housing more than they do higher-end projects.

The housing situation in Vail could be an example of such a reaction. On April 20, 2022, Vail town council voted 4 - 3 against building affordable housing on a 17 acre property due to concerns of negative impact on the winter habitat of a herd of bighorn sheep. Vail had previously promised to spend upwards of $17 million on affordable housing development. Representatives for the Vail ski area desired that the town act on their housing and worker crisis immediately, and demanded of town council to explain how luxury housing developments are allowed to continue while affordable housing is denied.

The Mountain Migration Report stated that rents have spiked 20-40% across the board in the six counties studied in less than one year. According to the report, 70% of households that work in the same county that they live earn less than $150,000 per year, while 75% of newcomers to the mountains that have out of county jobs earn more than $150,000 per year. The report indicates that this disparity makes it so that “the majority of full-time residents employed locally cannot successfully compete for housing when escalated demand and prices are driven by households earning much higher incomes”.

There are many “crises” that plague the agendas of Nederland’s local government. Aside from much needed updates to town infrastructure, both above and underground, Nederland is attempting to become more accessible. The lack of parking in town is an ongoing issue as more people visit every year, and more people move and construct homes here. If workers can’t afford to live in town then Nederland will have to expect to hire its workforce from either down or further up the hill, which will exacerbate the parking issue.

Nederland’s limited land use comes up as a point of discussion in nearly every proposed redevelopment project. Proposing the construction of wetlands means losing more parking space. Proposing an interconnected trail system requires negotiating with Boulder County, Colorado Department of Transportation, the Forest Service, and private landowners. With actionable issues all so tightly interwoven by the problem of high demand/limited space, seeking solutions will almost always take time and leave a portion of the community unsatisfied with the results.

On Wednesday, May 18, 2022, town staff and members of the Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met at 750 West 5th Street, referred to as the Old Town Shop site, for a public meeting to discuss plans to redevelop the site. Among many different considerations for what to do with the site, local government is seeking rezoning efforts to allot it for affordable housing. Boulder County had allocated $144,000 for 12 units to be built, stipulated in their 1999 Mud Lake Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Nederland. A resolution to designate the site for affordable housing was proposed on September 19, 2017.

The project has faced setbacks in attempting to rezone the property for the desired use, mostly due to public disapproval. At a Nederland Planning Commission meeting on June 27, 2018, a public hearing was held on the issue of rezoning the Old Town Shop site from Public classification to Neighborhood Commercial (NC). Several residents wrote letters of opposition, worried that the zoning classification of NC would allow for construction of multi- family units. Their concerns were that such rezoning would create disruptive noise, drainage, access, and traffic issues and wouldn’t be in keeping with the medium-density residential zoning of the neighborhood.

On September 7 and October 5, 2021, the BOT discussed rezoning the Old Town Shop site to NC in order to construct a Health and Human Services center. Due to the project eliminating “blight” to the area, it increased the town’s chances of receiving funds from the Colorado Community Revitalization Grant. However, both residents and members of government boards disapproved of this use of the site.

The Old Town Shop site has also been discussed as a solar garden, a parking lot, and as a pocket park. It’s been in the discussion again since it was mentioned as a viable option for affordable housing at the Nederland Candidates Forum on March 14, 2022, when candidates running for BOT were asked to comment on Nederland’s housing crisis.

The recent disapproval mostly stems from some of the neighboring residents of the site who remember the area having been designated as a pocket park according to a Nederland adopted program, Envision 2030. The program was instituted in 2021 and is a community development guideline aimed to ensure sustainable growth while maintaining community values and priorities. Envision 2030 consisted of several subcommittees dedicated to these community priorities, including arts, culture, and education, economic development, and housing.

Nederland resident Mary Jarril was Chairwoman of Envision 2030’s Arts, Culture, and Education and Housing Subcommittees, and sat on the Community Engagement and Parks, Recreation and Open Space Subcommittees.

Jarril, at the BOT’s meeting on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, made a public comment about the site being considered again for affordable housing. She expressed that her neighborhood was being disrupted by the “constant barrage of meetings” concerning the site, and that their zoning laws were “under assault”. With only three minutes allotted to make her public comment at that meeting, Jarril was unable to expand on her position.

“In 2020, the BOT approved the zoning map as it was,” Jarril spoke with The Mountain-Ear about the Old Town Shop site, which lies vacant at the end of her neighborhood. “Then in 2021 we had them coming at us to rezone it again. So it’s like once or twice a year they come back, and this is how they do stuff around here. They eventually roll over people and I think they think they’re going to roll over us now.”

Jarril is not in opposition to affordable housing but rather in favor of preserving Nederland’s identity as a place with a diverse population, abundant wildlife, and a recreational destination. Jarril believes the town’s focus should be on removing obstacles to builders who wish to create housing. She included a desire to see reduced water tap fees and more allowances for RV’s, and for consideration of smaller, ecologically sound “alternative” housing, as well as a redeveloped Central Business District (CBD).

“I think it would be interesting if it were to be developed to have some alternative housing and then have some open space, because we really need it in town,” Jarril detailed one of her visions for the Old Town Shop site, defining alternative housing as tepees, yurts, or tiny homes. “I think small homes and small living units are the way to go.”

A redeveloped CBD has been a somewhat contentious subject among residents, seemingly centered around concerns of the town adopting a resort town aesthetic similar to Vail or Breckinridge. The artist’s renderings of the proposed CBD depicts a three-story complex which would house lower-level parking, as well as split commercial and residential spaces. Hesitancy about the proposal revolves around the issue of the complex exceeding Nederland’s 35 foot building height limit, as well as the fear that the complex could fall under control of a single corporate entity.

Though Nederland’s Advisory Boards and Commissions have discussed many infrastructure and parking issues concerning the CBD, the concept of a full- scale redevelopment has not come up on local government agendas. Jarril believes that the proposed CBD redevelopment plans would solve Nederland’s issues of limited space by providing parking and affordable housing, as well as possible rental incentives for workers. She also hopes that a revitalized town center would allow for a sharpened focus on maintaining existing wildlife habitat, while establishing more recreational opportunities on the limited available land surrounding the CBD.

“We have the solution; remove the obstacles to develop the CBD. The problem that people have is that it has to be three stories tall. So that’s really the question; is it better to leave the town center a dump and destroy every other place around it?”

Jarril explained how the proposed development of a 12 unit structure on the Old Town Shop site would change the character of her neighborhood, and detailed how a pocket park could potentially be developed.

“You could put in a building that looks like the carousel, which would be perfect for pony pictures and could double as a dog park. But the important thing is that we maintain access to the creek for the train of wildlife,” Jarril claims that the affordable housing proposal would upset natural wildlife migration, as deer and moose are known to cross through the site. “It’s a crossing place for the Caribou wetland over to the Eldora wetland. It’s actually a pretty unique area for wildlife. I’ve seen heron, double-crested cormorant, and we had a golden eagle that came every year.”

Jarril has followed the issue over the Old Town Shop site for many years, as she reiterated that the proposal for affordable housing has been brought forth and rejected many times.

“We’ve had probably six or eight zoning hearings on this just in the last five years. They’re constantly trying to change the zoning and I’m feeling a little bit of battle fatigue.”

According to Jarril, neither Nederland’s IGA with Boulder County, nor the town’s Comprehensive Plan has language supporting a change to zoning laws which would allow for affordable housing development on the desired parcel. However, the new BOT will be tasked at some point in the near future with revising or rewriting both the IGA and Comprehensive Plan.

“We do not have an obligation to the county or anybody else. I feel like the IGA does not stipulate that we have to,” Jarril said, referring to the construction of 12 units on the site. “Our agreement has been satisfied, so now we’re down to what is the best use for the property.”

The May 18 meeting resulted in Peak to Peak Housing and Human Services moving forward to evaluate public and private parcels throughout town that could be considered for affordable housing. Once the town has received the proper funding they wish to secure a consultant to complete a housing study, which is required for the town to make changes to municipal code to allow for or incentivize affordable housing. The several proposed uses for the Old Town Shop site are still being considered.

“People like to talk about how we signed on to the Paris Climate Accords… well, why is it that we are so ready to destroy habitat and quiet places in town? We talked about this as a pocket park, so what happened? Why are we now talking about parking and commercial zoning?” Jarril said.

Jarril is adamant in her stance that Nederland will lose its identity if its few available parcels of land are swallowed up by developments that, according to her and others, don’t coincide with the community’s values and priorities. But there are those who feel just as strongly that the proposed CBD redevelopment, thought of by Jarril and others as a multi- pronged solution, would be gentrification that’s harmful to the town’s identity and values. The local government needs to hear the voices of the public if any action to clarify Nederland’s identity crisis is to be made.

The discussion of public and private land available for development, including the Old Town Shop site, will continue in a joint Advisory Board and Commission meeting, which at the moment is planned for Tuesday, June 14, 2022. This meeting hasn’t been officially scheduled, so if this matter is important to you and you wish to stay informed, look for updates here in The Mountain-Ear and at: https:// townofnederland.colorado.gov.

Resources: https://coloradosun.com/2022/04/20/ vail-council-condems-parcel-vail-resorts- affordable-housing/

https://www.fourpointsfunding.com/post/ colorado-mountain-migration-report-shines- light-on-housing-crisis

https://www.businessinsider.com/personal- finance/how-to-protect-longtime-residents- from-gentrification-2020-9