John Scarffe, Nederland. The Nederland Board of Trustees approved an ordinance limiting the number of retail and medical marijuana licenses in the Town during a regular on-line meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, December 15, 2020. The Board also approved a wayfinding project and a minor subdivision, Rezoning and Lot Line Dissolution Application for McMullen Trust and heard an update on wildfire planning.

Marijuana License Limitations

Trustee Julian Taylor introduced an ordinance limiting retail and medical marijuana licenses in Nederland to four locations. At the November 17, 2020, meeting, the Board reviewed the ordinance, which outlined changes to the marijuana municipal code regarding license limitations for retail and medical marijuana facilities. 

The Board agreed to limit licenses to four locations, according to the agenda information memorandum. The Trustees agreed to have the Planning Commission review the zones in which cultivation, product manufacturing and testing facilities are allowed either through use by right or special review use and provide a recommendation on ways to limit those licenses. The Planning Commission decided to establish a subcommittee that would review the current zoning and make recommendations to the Planning Commission at the December 16, 2020, meeting. 

The Board of Trustees agreed that the most urgent municipal code changes regarded limiting the number of retail and medical marijuana licenses before the end of the moratorium on all new licenses on January 19, 2021. The Board will still need to decide how to handle available licenses and the timeframe a license can be inactive prior to forfeiture. 

When the Trustees determine the process for handling an available license, the process will be incorporated into an ordinance for future approval. The code also needs to be cleaned up due to recent amendments to Colorado law, according to the memo. 

The codes have references to state statutes that no longer exist because the state law was moved to a different location in the state statutes. These changes will be presented at a future date in a separate ordinance and may be combined with the process for distribution of an available license.

The Board said it makes sense and is consistent with Colorado state law and approved the ordinance.

Wayfinding Project

Claudia Schauffler, board member with the Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA), introduced a resolution regarding the Wayfinding Project: Discovery Stage. She said they have been working on this for a long time. 

The NDDA Board approved the wayfinding committee to engage Merje in the NDDA Wayfinding Project. The committee received a revised proposal on November, 19, 2020, with a cost of $22,750 and a project scope that includes a wayfinding analysis with the deliverables of a Wayfinding Assessment Report that outlines the recommendations, priorities and costs for the project, according to the memo. This document will allow the NDDA to make informed decisions on which elements to move forward. 

Additionally, phase I will include developing three design concepts for a variety of sign types, as well as preliminary sign location plans and an “order of magnitude” budget for implementing the system. They will address questions from Public Works about signage in their upcoming projects and plan to work very closely with the Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Advisory Board (PROSAB) regarding pedestrian signage, in addition to incorporating input from all other stakeholders.

Once phase I is completed, the committee will have a good sense of what is wanted and needed for the complete wayfinding project and some budget numbers to guide the board in deciding next steps and timetables. Future phases will provide final sign location plans and messages, field surveys and placement details, refined design for the selected signs and an updated budget. 

The final phase will include construction administration, fabrication, installation and coordination as needed. The project could entail pedestrian signs and possibly digital kiosks or an interactive map app. 

The NDDA recommended approving the resolution to begin working with Merje on phase I of the wayfinding project, which will give the NDDA Board a much better understanding of what is needed for Nederland wayfinding. 

Schauffler told the Board that they looked at signs posted by the Caribou Shopping Center, and they are not optimal. “We’re excited to have a company we can work with and just move forward with the beginning stages.” The company has experience working with regulations and will meet all the requirements they need.

Trustees expressed excitement about pushing the idea of walkability in the town and giving people guidance. Trustee Tania Corvalan said it will cost $22,000, and we’re not getting signs out of it. 

They could just get people together to make some signs, Corvalan said. “I’ve never had anyone say they had trouble finding their way in Nederland.” 

NDDA Chair Steven Karowe said the proposal is about the company, which will create a holistic approach to signage to the town. It will include directing visitors to the main parking lots and getting people out of the town. The company will figure out what signage is needed, and then they can put them out for bid. 

Schauffler said it is a top criterion for local artists to be involved, once they know what they want to do. The Board approved the project with Corvalan voting no. 

McMullen Trust Subdivision

The Board considered a minor subdivision, rezoning and lot line dissolution at 3 E. 5th Street for Mary Huggins, Trustee for Margaret A. McMullen Trust. Three applications have been submitted for these properties, a minor subdivision and replat at 3 E 5th Street and 34 Forest Road, rezoning of the subdivided plat and a lot line dissolution. 

At the July 22, 2020, Planning Commission meeting, the commission noted that the increased size of the 3 E 5th Street lot could allow more density by-right or via future minor subdivision. In the Medium Density Residential (MDR) zone, this could mean a total of three houses or potential lots. The Planning Commission was concerned about the increased density, and desired to limit the future subdivisions possible as a condition of their recommendation for rezoning approval, and Huggins agreed to the condition, which would restrict future subdivisions to no more than two lots. 

Regarding rezoning, the properties are north-south adjacent and under the same ownership, however they are located within two different zoning districts. A plat has been provided by the application delineating the requested zoning. 

The applicant is seeking a rezone because the parcel to the north is not large enough to be approved on its own for the LDR district size. The application for a lot line dissolution was submitted in conjunction with the rezone because a lot line dissolution cannot be done between two different zoning districts. 

The 3 E 5th Street lot has an existing square footage of 16,700.73 square feet, which would be augmented by the addition of about 10,115 square feet from the 34 Forest Road lot. The dissolution would not impact the location of any remaining lot lines within the subdivision or create any non-conforming lot. 

A neighbor on Forest Road inquired as to the status of the walking trail that crosses the parcel at the western corner to connect N. Bridge Street to Forest Road, and Huggins indicated the trail use can continue and agreed to dedicate a trail easement identified on the subdivision plat.

During Trustees discussion, Mayor Kristopher Larsen and Trustee Lindsey Danforth both recused themselves from voting because they are neighbors of the property. Other trustees said it was very well managed with the neighbors and approved all three requests.

Wildfire Planning

Molly Mowery and Kelly Johnston with Wildfire Planning International and Wildland Professional Solutions presented the Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire (CPAW) final recommendations to reduce wildfire risk for Nederland. They formed a team comprising Fire Chief Rick Dirr, Town Clerk Miranda Fisher, Deputy Zoning Administrator Cynthia Bakke, and Rik Hendrickson, Fire Marshal with the Fire Department. 

 In 2020, Colorado experienced historic wildfire activity in terms of a record number of acres burned and fire activity that extended into November. Firestorms in Colorado are predicted to continue given climate change trends and further human encroachment into wildland areas, resulting in conditions which allow for the spread of fire from wildland vegetation to development. 

This dynamic set of conditions, referred to as the wildland-urban interface (WUI), requires consideration of additional measures that can reduce wildfire damage and increase public and first responder safety. 

To support the development and implementation of land use planning strategies that address wildfire, the CPAW program provides technical assistance to communities across the country. Nederland was selected to receive CPAW assistance in 2020. 

Due to the geographic size, location, vegetation and other conditions, the entire Town of Nederland is considered to be in the WUI. Assistance from CPAW to the Town focused on analyzing local land use documents that have implications for the WUI and wildfire risk, working with local officials to understand challenges and opportunities related to wildfire risk, and providing recommendations.

Life safety, building, land use and other development codes and standards are based on proven methodologies to increase public and first responder safety and welfare. This includes regulations focused on the WUI that reduce risk and loss from wildland fires that transition into developed areas. This recommendation addresses existing gaps within the Town of Nederland’s approach to regulating the WUI by recommending the updating of regulations to align with the Boulder County requirements.

The Town and NFPD have identified the need for at least one secondary egress route for the community of Big Springs. Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire recommended that two egress routes be established. The two egress routes recommended are the Doe Trail and Wildewood Routes. 

The Town of Nederland and NFPD have several plan updates on the horizon, including the Comprehensive Plan, Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), and participation in Boulder County’s Hazard Mitigation Plan. These plan updates can serve as catalysts for incorporating wildfire hazard or land use planning policies to advance approaches for supporting wildfire risk reduction. 

Mayor Larsen said the Board needs to schedule work study sessions to look at town codes and wildfire mitigation across the town. 

The next meeting of the Nederland Board of Trustees will be on January 5, 2021. For more information,
go to https://nederlandco.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=298.

(Originally published in the December 24, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)