With Nederland cooling down from the festival and from ski season, town officials are focusing on the next steps for much needed parking infrastructure. Downtown development is a hot topic in the community and candidates running in the April 5 election for Board of Trustees (BOT) will have to address how the town should move forward.

Trustees Tania Corvalan and Lindsey Danforth of the BOT worked alongside Town staff to address the concern of parking in Nederland’s Central Business District (CBD).

“The conversation began because the Town has had a policy in place requiring businesses in the CBD to provide parking and it’s based on use and square footage,” Corvalan explained. “The problem is this code has never been evenly enforced.”

“Some people have paid into the parking fund and some people have been allowed to use Town right-of-way for their parking. Others have come to the Board for variances excusing them from the requirement. Because many of these old buildings can not magically create parking it seems that perhaps the code should be rewritten.”

Town staff researched parking codes of other municipalities, pored over the results of the completed surveys from 61 business and 122 citizens, and heard suggestions from all of Nederland’s advisory boards and commissions.

Results from the survey pointed officials to reconsider such proposals as having Public Works locate town-owned “right-of-way” property to convert to parking space.

“The results were no surprise. Most people agree that we don’t have enough parking but they are mostly opposed to paying for parking. They are for the twohour parking limitations but recognize there isn’t enforcement of this rule.” Corvalan said.

Proposed concepts for paid parking in the CBD include a combination of a phone app and kiosks, as well as some areas having a 15- to 30-minute grace period. Though such plans could be expensive to initiate, the BOT and Town staff agreed that more enforcement of parking and of speeding issues in town is a necessity.

Town Administrator Miranda Fisher also spoke to The Mountain-Ear about the next phases for the town on this issue. The Planning Commission will be looking at off-street parking regulations in the CBD and whether or not to end the commercial parking fund. Fisher explained that eliminating the current parking code and commercial parking fund will engage businesses to create parking solutions for both their customers and their employees.

The Planning Commission suggested that the town consider out-of-town parking solutions with the aid of a shuttle system.

“Some people think a shuttle from the Community Center, RTD, B&F, and Teen Center parking lots would be useful; I think it would myself. This town is small but not easy to get around, especially if you have an injury,” Corvalan noted.

The Planning Commission also wished to encourage the town to be more pedestrian-friendly, as well as suggesting that a parking structure be developed on the RTD site.

There is an agreement among the BOT that an addition of a parking garage on the RTD lot is the clearest solution. The Planning Commission, the Parks, Recreation, Open Space Advisory Board (PROSAB), and the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) all suggested the exact same thing in their assessments on the town’s parking problem.

“Most people would like to see a parking garage at the RTD but RTD doesn’t see the need, probably because it won’t really help their ridership as much as help the town of Ned provide parking for their businesses,” Corvalan said.

Though there is no current conversation with RTD, it has been passed on to Town staff that RTD doesn’t believe there’s enough use of the lot to warrant constructing a parking garage. Fisher noted that as businesses in the CBD work to create parking alternatives for their employees, use of the RTD lot should be promoted as a two-pronged solution.

Aside from asking for RTD to assist, the SAB also mentioned reaching out to Eldora to provide better parking solutions and perhaps use of their shuttle system in the off-season. PROSAB is currently considering using Eldora funding to install proper trail signage, promoting walkability throughout town.

PROSAB’s concerns for more ADA compliance from local businesses, as well as for a “walkable 1st Street,” are intertwined with projects coming out of The Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA). The NDDA also has been thinking about making 1st Street able to close intermittently for foot traffic only.

Nederland’s quest for proper signage, a pedestrian-friendly CBD, and ADA compliance are all part of the NDDA’s Wayfinding project.

“We are also going to talk with the NDDA about what needs to be done to push the Wayfinding project further,” Fisher noted.

The NDDA wishes to use the Wayfinding project to help direct visitors to park throughout town, as opposed to only parking in the CBD. The NDDA also plans on redeveloping the Town website to include better parking information, and to work with local businesses to assess employee parking alternatives.

All Nederland advisory boards and commissions agreed on some form of metered parking on 1st Street as one of many solutions. They also all suggested better enforcement of the current two-hour parking limit. The Nederland Police Department (NPD) will develop an action plan focused around enforcing the current parking limitations that exist in town.

NPD are considering hiring a part-time officer dedicated to parking and traffic enforcement. Fisher mentioned that, though the community has called for more enforcement, it is a “double-edged sword,” considering that NPD reports the majority of traffic infractions are caused by locals.

Public Works will be evaluating which of the town-owned lots (rights-of-way) could potentially be used for parking with limited impact on neighborhoods. They’ll also be developing a plan to repaint parking space lines this summer.

Town staff will be considering what a Nederland shuttle system might look like, and if that would include partnering with Boulder and Gilpin County. They will also continue to research paid parking and how other municipalities handle their local exemption rules.

“It’s important when looking at other municipalities that we’re looking at similar size; Crested Butte, Georgetown, Idaho Springs,” Fisher explained. “We can’t address parking like Boulder does. We’re not Boulder; we don’t have enough enforcement.”

Fisher concluded our conversation with a clarified outlook about how all these different parking solutions can be combined.

“It’s such a cross-sectional problem that all these things need to come together at the same time for it to work. I think that in the past Nederland has handled parking issues piecemeal, and the town now needs to focus on it as a whole.”