Despite its size, Nederland is home to several pocket neighborhoods, each with their own distinct characteristics that are meant to be represented, and protected, by their property zoning districts and by Nederland Municipal Code (NMC). But as the Town faces a list of community needs and verges on major decisions to be made in regards to development and redevelopment, the lines of what is and is not permissible become at risk of changing.

The following is a recapitalization of a proposal to the Town of Nederland for childcare that, if approved, would have a significant impact to the area known as the Dyers neighborhood. The issue of childcare is considered by the majority of the Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT) to be an urgent need, but the current location in question is disputed as being ideal due to zoning concerns, housing resolutions, and questions of ecological safety.

The Proposal

On October 3, 2023, the BOT discussed a proposal from TEENS, Inc. to lease 750 West 5th Street for the construction of a new childcare center.

Executive Director Stephen LeFaiver presented to the Board the request for the same private/public partnership that TEENS, Inc. has with the Town for their teen center and high school at 151 East Street. The request is for a 99 year lease at one dollar a year, with TEENS, Inc. responsible for raising funds for the construction and for the management of the childcare center under their current non-profit model.

TEENS, Inc. took over the New Explorers childcare center at 391 West 1st Street in 2019, and has since invested $45,000 into the facility, mostly in property repairs and improvements. LeFaiver spoke of how the current facility can only serve up to 20 kids safely, and that the property does not allow for any further expansion.

The original plan was to construct a building on a 3,000 square foot foundation with two floors, which would be big enough to serve up to 60 children. The site, chosen by LeFaiver and the TEENS, Inc. Board of Directors, is expected to be large enough for the childcare center, for parking, pick up and drop off, a playground, and some additional landscape greenery.

On November 21, 2023, LeFaiver provided updates to the vision for 750 West 5th Street, though specifying that these updates come after on-site consultations with architects and that preliminary designs have not been drafted.

LeFaiver stated that the current plan is for a 5,000 square foot foundation and first floor, with a small 500 square foot upstairs for offices. The parking and the 2,000 square foot playground is planned to be constructed on the eastern side of the property, to mitigate noise pollution in the neighborhood.

The childcare center would include a kitchen, laundry room, and bathrooms for both kids and adults, and is still planned to be able to serve 60 children, with room for more, which includes up to 10 infants.

The projected timeline for the construction of the project, not including the processes before the Planning Commission and BOT, is for construction to begin by Summer 2024, and for the doors of the childcare center to be open for operation by 2025. TEENS, Inc. anticipates having to raise four million dollars to fund the construction of the center.

In addition to one-on-one discussions with Trustees, LeFaiver also provided Town staff with answers to several concerns, including the potential risks of the longterm lease.

To the questions of what would happen if the facility does not get built and what would happen if TEENS, Inc. could not afford to run the childcare center and were to abandon the center, LeFaiver specified that construction would not begin until TEENS, Inc. were to raise the desired percentage of funding for the project and that the TEENS, Inc. Board of Directors was open to including language in their agreement to surrender the land back to the Town in the “unlikely event that TEENS, Inc. is unable to maintain operations.”

The site considered for this development, at 750 West 5th Street, is within the three block neighborhood surrounding the Nederland Fire Department, which consists of West 5th, 4th, and 3rd Streets, intersected by Coulson and Griffith Streets, known as the Dyers neighborhood.

750 West 5th Street is often referred to as the Old Town Shop site, as it was the location of the “town shop,” which is a municipal workshop for its parks, streets, and utilities services. The site is owned by the Town of Nederland and is zoned Public.

The Dyers neighborhood is a medium density residential (MDR) zoned area whose residents have, for several decades, been inundated with what they perceive to be constant threats to the characteristics of their small community. The 20,000 square foot Old Town Shop site has been reviewed and assessed by the Town for the construction of affordable housing, a parking lot, a mini-park, and a Health and Human Services building.

On December 17, 1999, the Town of Nederland and Boulder County entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) for the purchase of the Mud Lake property for “open space, affordable housing, certain Town services, an environmental education center, and to accomplish other land use objectives of the Town.”

Section IV of the Mud Lake IGA states: “The parties intend that the current location of the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) bus barn, at Highway 72 and 3rd Street and Len’s Excavating, Inc., at 625 W. 3rd Street, Nederland, will be converted to use for the new Town Fire Station. The current fire station site will be used for 12 units of Boulder County affordable housing and two Habitat for Humanity residences.”

The “current fire station site” named in the IGA is 750 West 5th Street. The IGA was later amended to omit the two Habitat for Humanity homes. In 2009, Nederland was released from the obligations to provide 12 affordable housing units, or pay Boulder County the $144,000 cost of the units, in a fifth amendment to the Mud Lake IGA.

On September 19, 2017, the BOT passed Resolution 2017-13, which states: “the Board has found that it is advantageous to the Town’s goal of increasing diverse and affordable housing to identify and pursue 750 West 5th Street as a desirable and viable location for affordable housing within the Town.”

Resolution 2017-13 directly indicates Nederland’s 2013 Comprehensive Plan as the guiding document dictating the Town’s need for affordable housing.

On June 27, 2018, a public hearing was held with the Planning Commission regarding a proposal to rezone the Old Town Shop site from Public to Neighborhood Commercial. The proposal was met with opposition from residents who were concerned that such rezoning would negatively affect the character of the Dyers neighborhood with noise, drainage, and traffic issues.

In the fall of 2021 another proposal for rezoning the Old Town Shop site was presented to the BOT, this time for the construction of a Health and Human Services center for eligibility in the Colorado Community Revitalization Grant Program.

The building was proposed as a mixed-use commercial building with the Food Pantry, Clothing Closet, and “additional health and human service organizations” on the first floor, with affordable housing units on the second floor.

The Town’s Agenda Information Memorandum for their meeting on October 5, 2021, states: “The location of the old Town Shop increases the project’s fundability for this grant program. The funding agency favors projects that eliminate blight. It also favors projects that are on downtown “main streets;” the old Town Shop site is more centrally located to Nederland’s downtown than the Community Center.”

Also instituted in 2021 was the community developed guideline for maintaining Nederland’s values and priorities and ensuring its sustainable growth, known as Envision 2030. Envision 2030 consisted of several subcommittees dedicated to arts, culture, and education, community engagement, economic development, environmental sustainability, health, human, and social services, housing, municipal government, and parks, recreation, and open space.

The Environmental Sustainability Subcommittee’s “vision statement” reads: “In 2030, Nederland is a model community for environmental sustainability. Our community is knowledgeable about how our everyday decisions impact the earth. We take action to reduce climate change and mitigate its impacts. We are dedicated to conserve, protect, and restore our environment to foster a sustainable future that leads to social and economic improvements in our community.”

The Housing Subcommittee’s vision statement reads: “In 2030, Nederland’s diverse housing serves the needs of the local population in a stable and livable community while maintaining its unique, small town identity. Low income, alternative, and affordable housing choices are available for our local workforce, seniors, and others - including young families.”

On May 18, 2022, a public meeting was held with members of the BOT and Town staff at the Old Town Shop site to once again consider rezoning the lot to allow for the construction of affordable housing. It was at this time that the Town considered hiring a third-party consultant to complete a housing study in order to become eligible for grant opportunities to fund affordable housing initiatives.

The Town contracted with Bohannan Huston Inc. on December 6, 2022, to provide Nederland with an updated Housing Needs Assessment, and recommendations for changes to NMC that promote affordable and alternative housing, in order to complete the prerequisites for the Housing Planning Program Grant and be eligible for the Housing Development Incentive Grant Program.

Also, in the Planning Commission’s efforts to provide the Town with options for its lack of available parking, 750 West 5th Street is continually listed as a viable location for a public parking lot.

According to LeFaiver, the Old Town Shop site was chosen by the TEENS, Inc. Board of Directors for being the most cost-effective in relation to getting the project to completion, providing the shortest timeline to increase their service capacity, demonstrating the public/private partnership that would be favorable to potential funders, and allowing for no interruption in childcare services during construction of the facility.

In a memorandum provided to Town staff by LeFaiver, the TEENS, Inc. Board of Directors reviewed three other sites, including Bobcat Ridge, 0 Highway 119, and the site of the current New Explorers Learning Center at 391 West 1st Street, which was mentioned in their original proposal as being “unsustainable” for expansion.

As for Bobcat Ridge, a 17 acre property on the south side of Colorado Road 130 that has suffered stunted development for more than 10 years due to Boulder County’s control over Nederland’s powers of annexation. LeFaiver’s memorandum states that time and cost were the leading factors in finding the site insufficient, as the parcel is completely undeveloped, driving up the cost of construction and timeline to project completion.

The location at 0 Highway 119 is the previous location of the Over the Rainbow preschool which was a for-profit childcare business shuttered over a decade ago due to suspicion of sexual assault and teachers with criminal backgrounds.

LeFaiver’s memorandum states about the privately owned parcel: “The landowner initially proposed a lease-to-purchase agreement. This would be too costly and offset TEENS, Inc.’s current asset thus prolonging the ability to construct a facility. When approached to donate the land, the landowner wishes to include this property in the negotiations of a larger redevelopment plan. Both these options provide uncertainties and will threaten the efficiency and sustainability of a preschool.”

The TEENS, Inc. Board of Directors specified that purchasing a property outright will increase their costs and negatively impact their timeline, as well as raise the chance of needing a larger loan, affecting the financial sustainability of the preschool and TEENS, Inc.’s abilities to provide subsidized tuition rates for low-to-moderate income families.

Support

Since the proposal for a new childcare center was introduced, present and former Nederland residents, community organization leaders for Peak to Peak Housing and Human Services Alliance and the Emergency Family Assistance Association, among others, school officials, and Eldora staff and leadership have been sending their letters of support to the Planning Commission and BOT. The majority of the support stems from the Peak to Peak area’s severe need for child care.

According to LeFaiver, this year New Explorers had to turn away 14 families and there are more than 52 families on the waiting list for next year. Census data for the 80466 zip code for the last five years indicate there has been a 35% population growth of children under the age of five, however enrollment in Nederland Elementary School has decreased by nearly 20%.

As indicated in letters and public comment submitted to the BOT in support of the proposal from TEENS, Inc., and from the Nederland Elementary School principal Caleb Melamed, the low enrollment numbers are a direct consequence of the lack of childcare in the area.

“While affordable housing remains a challenge for young families, the more significant need, I believe, is available and affordable childcare,” Melamed wrote in his letter submitted to the BOT. “Young parents or prospective parents are required to either find nannies, have one caregiver stay home, or move to the front range where there are more daycare options.”

“This has a direct through line to the declining enrollment we see at Nederland Elementary School. I see the lack of options for high quality, affordable child care as the greatest need in our community.”

Many families who were forced to leave Nederland due to the lack of childcare submitted letters to the BOT.

“In 2014 my son was born and my wife and I lived in Nederland and had our first child. We were able to stay home for the first three months of his life but then we had to hire a private nanny since no infant childcare existed in Nederland,” one letter read.

“Since Nederland did not offer any childcare to children under the age of 4, we had to commute our infant to Boulder for care. We soon recognized that Nederland was incapable of suiting our needs as a family for child care with two full-time working parents. So, 19 months after he was born we made the difficult decision to leave Nederland and move to Longmont so we could have appropriate childcare.”

Due to the cost of childcare becoming unaffordable for those across the country earning the median income, as stated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the lack of access to affordable childcare has cost the U.S. Economy $122 billion in lost earnings as a result of lowered productivity.

In addition to the nationwide issues of childcare, members of the public also warned that the exodus of young families from a town is a precursor to that town losing its schools, and furthermore losing its identity.

“If anybody wants to look at the case study of Grand Lake, in 2012 they shut down their elementary school, they had 60 students and they don’t have any childcare and all the families moved away,” said one commenter during the November 21 meeting. “There are 400 people that live there long term. It’s a retirement community in the winter and in the summer it’s no one from Colorado,” they said, referring to guests of Short Term Rentals.

LeFaiver noted to Trustees during their meeting on November 21, 2023, that the recent closing of Eagles’ Nest Early Learning Center in Gilpin County is an example of what happens when a non-profit business is not sustainable. The closing of Eagles’ Nest on November 22, 2023, has resulted in at least 32 children without childcare.

TEENS, Inc.’s history as a positive example of a sustainable non-profit was lauded by those in support of the childcare center proposal. LeFaiver specified that all of TEENS, Inc.’s profits are filtered back into the organization and its programs, and added how New Explorers stayed open through the COVID-19 pandemic, losing an estimated $5,000 a month, while also providing $15,000 in tuition assistance, $15,000 in direct financial support to families, and refunds for childcare services lost due to the mandatory shutdown.

Members of the Planning Commission were in agreement with residents who felt that the current relationship between the Town and TEENS, Inc. is a perfect example of a positive private/public partnership, as TEENS, Inc. provides an essential service to the community as a sustainable nonprofit business, and currently rents their teen center and high school at 151 East Street from the Town with a 99 year lease at one dollar a year.

LeFaiver added that Executives Partnering and Investing in Childcare (EPIC), which is an organization of leaders within the state who want to provide resources for childcare, has expressed interest in TEENS, Inc.’s proposal and chosen it as a “promising project.”

Opposition

Since October 3 there have been members of the public present at Planning Commission and BOT meetings, as well as those who have written letters and called in to meetings to give public comment, who are opposed to the TEENS, Inc. proposal, most of them residents of the neighborhood proposed to be impacted.

These residents do not object to the truth that Nederland needs childcare, though they do feel that the fundamental characteristics of their mostly MDR zoned neighborhood would be compromised by the addition of a private enterprise.

“The neighbors have spoken repeatedly about their decision to buy homes in the neighborhood due to its residential, spacious feel,” one member of the public wrote in their letter to the BOT. “It’s a quiet part of town. Now, perhaps there are 10 total car trips into this neighborhood per day. With the present proposal, traffic would be increased, say 50 cars with students, and eight staff, plus a few service vehicles, once in the morning, once in the evening, that’s 120 car trips in a day. That’s an increase of over 1000%.”

As for the zoning considerations involved with the Old Town Shop site, the neighborhood is zoned Medium Density Residential (MDR) while the site at 750 West 5th Street is zoned public. Town staff is considering changing the use group table in Nederland Municipal Code (NMC) to allow private schools to operate on public land, though the current recommendation is to enforce a special review use (SRU) process on such decisions.

Town staff is also considering rezoning the public lot to MDR, which allows for the construction and operation of public schools through an SRU.

Residents of the Dyers neighborhood indicate that, if the childcare center at the Old Town Shop site were to be approved through creative solutions subverting direct rezoning efforts, the noise and light pollution imposed on their neighborhood in combination with the increased traffic would forever alter the quiet corner of Nederland that they call home.

Some Dyers residents wrote to the BOT clarifying that they had purchased their homes based on information by former Town staff that the Old Town Shop site was earmarked for affordable housing, as per Resolution 2017-13.

“60 kids playing outside multiple times a day creates a lot of noise for a small neighborhood. This is all very unsettling to have next to ones home,” wrote one Dyers resident.

“This is a far cry from the quiet residential neighborhood we were told it was slated for. I’m also concerned with the nighttime light pollution. The beautiful thing about living in a small town is that I can actually see the stars and sleep in the dark. I feel that this proposed facility will put an end to that.”

“While it’s clear that child care is a need for Nederland, housing is also a great need. Considering that every lot surrounding the Old Town Shop site is zoned as MDR, putting a two-story commercial building with a 3,000-sq-ft footprint with an outside playground and room inside for 60 kids seems extraordinarily out of place. In my mind it’s spot zoning and highly disrupts an all residential area.”

“If housing is such a need in Nederland, I urge you to keep in line with what’s already here and established, to keep in line with what the site has already been slated for. I urge you to use the old town shop site for housing.”

There were also those who stated their belief that the Old Town Shop site was not ideal for a childcare facility due to its adjacency to the trailer park at 751 West 4th Street. The residents spoke of the trailer park as attracting dangerous activity, transients, and eliciting several calls to the police, and referred to it as a blight on the neighborhood.

“The surrounding area is not safe for children,” said one resident of the Dyers neighborhood during public comment. “There are problems with the trailers that are there, there is a transient RV situation that goes on. There are frequently people that pull up who we don’t know. They are hunting, I’m sure they’ve got guns. I don’t know how stable these people are; we don’t know them because they’re very transient.”

“It would be great if we could do a whole revitalization of the area and address that specific spot. If housing is going to go in there, it would be great if it could be something nice.”

Residents who felt negatively affected by living next door to the trailer park hoped for the Town to abandon child care initiatives for 750 West 5th Street and to instead embrace a perceived opportunity to work a deal with the property owner of the trailer park in an effort to revitalize the Dyers neighborhood in accordance with the resident’s wishes.

“If you add the two (properties) together you get .92 of an acre and you can easily build six to eight efficiency, affordable homes there and get rid of the trailers,” said one resident of the neighborhood. “The mobile homes make it a substandard looking neighborhood, and you’ve got this transient nature without any kind of background checks whatsoever for residents that are living there. You can have registered sex offenders there!”

Many letters of opposition to the childcare center proposal expressed a desire for the BOT to better assess the validity of other potential land parcels, including the Bobcat Ridge and Over the Rainbow sites previously mentioned and already considered by the TEENS, Inc. Board of Directors, as well as the west wing of the Nederland Community Center.

On November 21, Town Administrator Miranda Fisher noted that the west wing of the Nederland Community Center is being reconstructed but not expanded to include any new services at this time, and that any “true redevelopment” of the center is at least four years out.

Concerns were also raised about Eldora Mountain Ski Resort’s interest in the childcare center proposal. The concept of Eldora leadership expressing interest in childcare for their staff while seemingly not investing in any childcare solutions did not sit well with many Nederland residents.

There was also the misconception being spread that skiers and snowboarders on their way to Eldora would be able to drop their kids off at childcare in Nederland at any point during the weekend. LeFaiver, however, has maintained that the childcare center will not be open on weekends and that the application process for childcare does not allow non-members to drop their children off haphazardly.

Due to 750 West 5th Street having previously been the site of the Town Works operations, Nederland has completed the assessments required to determine that the site did not need to be fully remediated.

A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment conducted by Quantum Environmental identified some staining across the property slab, indicating some petroleum and other chemical releases had occurred. Quantum recommended soil samples be collected.

A follow-up investigation by DS Environmental Consulting Inc. resulted in the excavation of two trenches near the northeast and central sides of the slab, revealing two drains, one which was not connected to the sewer system and was full of gray ground clay.

A Phase II Limited Site Investigation was conducted by ERO Resources Corporation which involved drilling four soil borings for soil sample collection, and the installation of four monitoring wells for the collection of groundwater samples.

The Phase II Investigation revealed: “No field indications of contamination were encountered. Therefore, the soil samples were collected from the zone immediately above the perceived groundwater table at depths of eight to 10 feet bgs.”

“The soil samples were analyzed for VOCs by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Method 8260; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 8 Metals (arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium, and silver) by EPA Methods 6010/7471; and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by EPA Method 8270.”

“No VOCs or PAHs were detected above the method detection limits. Arsenic was detected in two soil samples (MW-1-10 and MW-3-8) collected from 10 and 8 feet bgs, respectively, and barium, cadmium, chromium, and lead were detected in all four soil samples collected from the property (Table 1). The arsenic concentration detected in MW-1-10 slightly exceeded the EPA RSL for unrestricted, residential land use of 0.68 milligrams per kilogram (mg/ kg).”

“However, the arsenic concentration was well below the established average background soil arsenic concentration used for Colorado of 11 mg/kg (CDPHE 2014).”

Ultimately, ERO’s professional opinion was that: “No evidence of soil or groundwater contamination associated with the historical use of the property as a town maintenance facility was identified; and groundwater concentrations of bromodichloromethane and chloroform on the property may be indicative of a water line leak in the area or from septic effluent from surrounding residential properties.”

Dyers neighborhood residents have also begun to campaign for the Old Town Shop site to be repurposed into a pocket park, which has been a concept for the land since Envision 2030.

Evoking the Rights of Nature resolution, which Nederland adopted on July 6, 2021, giving “fundamental and inalienable rights” to its 448 square-mile watershed, a few dedicated residents have begun conversations with members of the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Board (PROSAB), and with Ecologist and Botanist Rea Orthner Wrobel, about restoring the Old Town Shop site and the immediate area surrounding North Beaver Creek which runs alongside it.

Orthner Wrobel spoke to The Mountain-Ear regarding the concept, specifying that there is a call for riparian repair along the creek as the north side of the creek appears to show a lack of riparian vegetation, such as willows. Orthner Wrobel indicated that the 20 foot corridor along the stream could be restored for quality wildlife viewing and educational opportunities, but stated that restoring the entire Old Town Shop site was not ideal to Nederland’s watershed.

Town’s Considerations

On November 21, Town staff’s department heads provided feedback regarding the proposal for a childcare center on the Old Town Shop site. The Streets department was concerned about the potential of the Town vacating West 5th Street as it would affect their ability to efficiently plow and pile snow.

The Town is considering vacating West 5th Street to increase the size of the parcel from 0.46 acres to 0.74 acres, though Town staff is awaiting confirmation from representatives of the Nederland Fire Protection District concerning whether West 5th Street is restricted from being vacated due to its use for fire engines.

The Parks department understands that the neighborhood is mostly in agreement that the Old Town Shop lot should be made into a park, however the official statement from the Parks department is that they do not have the capacity to construct a new park at this time.

The Nederland Fire Department specified that a fire hydrant would need to be installed near the potential childcare center, and that the cost of connecting that hydrant to the water main would have to be discussed further with the BOT.

The Utilities department questioned whether TEENS, Inc. would be responsible for paying PIF and TAP fees, which was their recommendation, or would they be requesting from the Town to waive those fees.

Mayor Billy Giblin specified on November 21 that TEENS, Inc. would not be receiving a “free ride,” and that they would be responsible for any fees or charges for utility hookup.

The Planning and Zoning department evoked Proposition 123, which holds the Town to its commitment of creating at least seven affordable housing units within three years, and Resolution 2017-13, which claims 750 West 5th Street as being designated for affordable housing. The Planning and Zoning department requested that TEENS, Inc. explain their position that childcare is more valuable to the community than affordable housing.

The Town is also asking TEENS, Inc. to consider implementing a land swap where the Town would acquire the New Explorers lot in exchange for leasing the Old Town Shop lot. 391 West 1st Street, being a developed lot, is worth over an estimated $700,000, and would be utilized by the Town for the development of affordable housing.

In another effort not to lose land eligible for the construction of housing, the possibility of TEENS, Inc. creating a mixed-use building at 750 West 5th Street to allow for affordable housing on the top floor is also being considered.

With Nederland’s dedication to the Housing Needs Assessment, Proposition 123, Resolution 2017-13, upcoming Comprehensive Plan update, and their Strategic Plan 2023-2024, all of which maintain “housing” as one of the Town’s greatest priorities, Town staff has provided alternative considerations for the creation of affordable housing to mitigate the loss of 750 West 5th Street as a viable option.

Such considerations include land banking and the Town applying for a Community Development Block Grant or for Housing Development Grant Funds.

BOT and PC Discussion

Some Trustees stated during their October 3 meeting immediate approval of TEENS, Inc.’s proposal, including Trustee Nichole Sterling and Mayor Pro Tem Tom Mahowald, who lives and owns several properties in the Dyers neighborhood.

“In general, let’s look at the lease, let’s look at the sale, let’s look at the property values, let’s investigate the state funding available through Proposition 123,” Sterling continued.

“I don’t want this to turn into what we’ve heard over previous boards, that nothing moves forward in this town. That’s not going to happen,” Sterling added. “I think you hear that there’s a commitment, that we’ll figure out a way, it’s just the figuring out the ‘how’. We hear very clearly that is not going to be one of those things that gets stymied. If we have to lock ourselves in a room to figure this out and come to a consensus then we will.”

“As a Trustee I’m in support of what Stephen is recommending,” Mahowald said on October 3, referring to the proposal from TEENS, Inc. “Also, this is Town’s property and we as Trustees have to make the best decision for the Town.”

“I’m also a neighborhood resident and I’m married to someone who is opposed to this; I respect that, but from a policy standpoint I’m pretty clear I’d like to move forward with what Stephen is proposing.”

On October 17, 2023, Mayor Giblin and Trustee Sterling addressed many letters from the public in opposition to the childcare center proposal that evoked Resolution 2017-13 as a reason to reconsider the Dyers neighborhood parcel as a viable option. Sterling noted that the resolution was not codified by the former BOT, and therefore was in no way binding to decisions regarding the Old Town Shop site.

Though the Old Town Shop site is currently zoned public and is surrounded by MDR-zoned property, the Town is considering several initiatives that would allow for a childcare facility to be built on the land, including potential zoning changes or implementing a special review use (SRU) process to allow private businesses on public zoned lots.

During discussion of the TEENS, Inc. proposal the BOT gave a nod of four to have the Planning Commission consider changing the Use Group Table, dictated by Chapter 16 of NMC, to allow a SRU process for such private/public partnerships. The Planning Commission first discussed the prospect during their scheduled meeting on October 25, 2023.

Though some Commissioners felt that allowing private businesses to operate on public land would set a dangerous precedent, others believed that the SRU process was a fair compromise given that it allows the Commission and the BOT to thoroughly consider such proposals and to gauge how well each proposal would benefit both entities of the partnership and the community as a whole.

The plan by members of the Dyers neighborhood to collaborate with the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Advisory Board to develop a “pocket park” was mentioned during the Commission’s October 25 meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Mahowald, after being asked to elaborate, stated that the park was just a conceptual conversation during the Envision 2030 process and that any formal land use application should be seen as an attempt by Dyers residents to halt any other development projects on the property.

Commissioners gave a nod of four, directing Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen to draft a formal ordinance, and asked Town staff to provide a sample lease agreement for a private/public partnership for Commissioners to review.

On November 21, 2023, Town Administrator Miranda Fisher presented Trustees with updates on several aspects involved in the consideration of the child care proposal, and provided a sample ground lease drafted by Attorney Jennifer Madsen for review.

The BOT also previously requested appraisals for the Old Town Shop site and for the current New Explorers site. Since appraisals are not subject to Colorado Open Records Act requests, the BOT discussed the submitted appraisals confidentially.

Trustees openly challenged those who stated their opposition to 750 West 5th Street being designated for a childcare center during the Public Comment portion of their November 21 meeting.

When a Dyers neighborhood resident asked why other viable locations are not being considered, Trustee Tania Corvalan asked for the resident to specify what other locations they heard were available, reiterating that the Over the Rainbow childcare center is a privately owned lot, and that the property itself is in disrepair and would need to be completely redeveloped.

Trustee Eric Coombs-Esmail stated that he did not believe in the validity of the Dyers residents’ opposing concerns, as well as offered his disbelief in the residents’ sentiments that they are in favor of affordable housing development on the Old Town Shop site.

“I want to argue about what’s really worth arguing about and I think we’re really grasping at straws here for reasons not to do this,” Coombs-Esmail. “The footprint of the building is a nonsense argument, it’s a small building. There being a playground, playgrounds have existed in residential communities across this country and other countries for as long as humans have existed, so that’s an absurd argument as well. The idea that you might have to hear a child while working from home, this is not an argument.”

“I have reached out, I encouraged folks from the Dyers addition to come talk to me about it,” Coombs-Esmail continued. “I don’t believe that the folks in the Dyers addition would support an affordable housing project that would actually get built there. I don’t believe you, you gotta do a lot of work to convince me.”

“I think you would be against anything we would try to build there, other than a park. When you say you’re ‘yes in my backyard’, so far you haven’t been. Affordable housing isn’t going to be two tiny homes and a zen garden, it’s going to be a huge building with many units and it might be owned and managed by someone that is not the Town, and you would have really no say in how things went.”

Trustee Corvalan expressed worry about Nederland Elementary School’s low enrollment.

“I didn’t worry about this because we had two preschools when my kid was that age and it was not even a problem, it was a choice between do I take him here or there,” Corvalan said.

“I think everybody here who is saying ‘no’ might want to think about what a community without a high school, a community without an elementary school looks like.”

“The most important thing for a community is having families and young people. I know we’re going to find a place for affordable housing, I’m not worried about that; I’m worried about finding somebody who wants to create childcare. It’s a lose-lose proposition for most businesses, so I’m really excited that we have somebody here willing to help our community and I hope it’s not too late.”

Trustees ended the discussion on November 21 by directing Town staff to fully exhaust all options in reference to Town’s other properties, in an effort to find the perfect compromise. Discussions between the town and the TEENS, Inc. Board will continue, despite there being hurdles set before the signing of a lease.

LeFaiver reiterated to Town staff and to Trustees that the TEENS, Inc. Board of Directors could not sign a lease before being granted an SRU, allowing construction of the childcare center on Public-zoned land, and that funding for construction could not be applied for until a lease is signed.

Commissioners will give their final vote for recommendation or denial of changing the Use Group Table to allow an SRU process for allowing private businesses to operate on public land on November 29, 2023. The matter will go before the BOT during a public hearing on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, at 7 p.m.

For more information go to: https:// townofnederland.colorado.gov/board-of-trustees.