The Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) met on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. to vote on whether to repeal their decision to rezone a vacant downtown lot. The owner of the lot intends to develop paid parking, which is a service that the BOT discussed codifying to simplify its implementation.

Four Trustees were present for Tuesday’s meeting, with Mayor Billy Giblin, Mayor Pro-Tem Tom Mahowald, and Trustee John Mountain absent.

On September 5, Trustees gave a nod of four in favor of committing to Proposition 123, which is the program that controls the State Affordable Housing Fund and provides municipalities with access to funding for affordable housing projects. During the September 19 meeting the board approved Resolution 2023-42, authorizing commitment to the proposition.

Trustees committed to a baseline goal of creating seven affordable housing units within three years. By committing before November of this year the Town will have access to project and program funding which can be used not only by the local government, but also by nonprofits, developers, residents, and “other third-party entities.”

Boulder County Commissioner Claire Levy had been scheduled to give an informational presentation regarding the three tax initiatives to go before the Boulder County electorate this November. However, Levy was not present for the meeting and the presentation did not take place.

The tax initiatives include extensions of the EcoPass program, the expiring Open Space sales tax, and the Sales and Use tax, which, if extended, can leverage additional funding resources for affordable housing.

The BOT were tasked with voting whether to approve a variance request by representatives of the Wingate property to process a six-parcel subdivision request as a “minor” subdivision rather than “major” because of conservation easements imposed on certain parcels that were gifted to the Town by Mary Wingate in September, 2000.

On August 30, 2023, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the variance.

Trustees did not have any further questions for Town Administrator Miranda Fisher or Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen, and without further discussion or any public comment, Resolution 2023-43 was passed, authorizing the subdivision variance.

Trustees also voted to approve Ordinance 848, repealing their decision to approve Ordinance 837, which rezoned 100 1st Street from High Density Residential to Central Business District to allow for the possible construction of a paid parking lot.

The original decision was petitioned, after which a protest of the petition was formally submitted, which led to a hearing that resulted in the petition being declared sufficient. Ron Mitchell, owner of the parcel proposed to be rezoned, sent a letter to Trustees asking them to repeal the decision as he plans to submit a Planned Unit Development (PUD) application to the Planning Commission to use the lot for paid parking.

The BOT briefly discussed working with the Planning Commission to draft code language within Nederland Municipal Code Chapter 16 that would create enforceable paid parking guidelines, as well as add parking to the Use Group Table to identify key areas for the development of paid parking lots and spaces.

Fisher stated that the Town was looking for Trustees to form a subcommittee, along with members of the Planning Commission, which will work alongside Attorney Madsen in developing the code language. The four Trustees in attendance each agreed to serve.

The Nederland Board of Trustees meet on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Their next scheduled meeting is on Tuesday, September 19, 2024, at 7 p.m. and can be attended either online or in person at the Nederland Community Center. For more information go to: https://townofnederland.colorado.gov/ board-of-trustees