The Nederland Planning Commission met on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, at 7 p.m. to assess changes to Town code pertaining to affordable housing development, based on suggestions from the results of a recent housing study.

Community Planner Britt DeMinck and Bohannan Huston Inc. (BHI) Senior Planner Derrick Webb presented commissioners with the results of the Housing Needs Assessment conducted by Town staff and contracted consultants BHI.

The Assessment is funded by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) Innovative Housing Strategies Planning Grant Program. The aim of the assessment was to gather public data and identify possible changes that could be made to NMC to remove some of the barriers to building affordable and alternative housing.

The Town of Nederland is required to provide an updated housing study and to make one change to their zoning code, promoting affordable and/or alternative housing, in order to complete the prerequisites for the Housing Planning Program Grant and be eligible for the Housing Development Incentive Grant Program.

Of the over 280 area residents surveyed, 17.69% were between the ages 18 and 34; 60.29% between the ages of 35 and 64; and 22.02% were 65 and older. 41.09% of these households earn $100,000 or below in yearly combined income; 23.27 % earn between $100,000 and $149,000; and 25.45% earn over $150,000. 8.68% of these households have two children; 14.05% have one child, and 76.86% have no children.

24.66% of the surveyed residents work remotely, while 39.01% work in person, and 24.66% experience a hybrid. Roughly 22% of them commute 33 to 59 minutes to work; 14% commute 21 to 30 minutes; and 13% commute zero to five minutes.

Of those surveyed, 72.65% own property, while 24.90% rent their homes.

When those surveyed were asked if they would choose to live in Nederland if there were more housing options available, 50.60 % answered yes while 16.87% answered no. As far as how likely those would be to move to Town if housing was available, 22% answered very likely while 24% answered very unlikely.

41% of those surveyed answered yes when asked if they had ever considered leaving Nederland for better housing options elsewhere; 43% answered no.

Nearly 70% of those surveyed agree that offering a variety of housing types to meet different life-stage needs is important; also, nearly 70% agree that offering a variety of prices to suit different budgets is important, and 70% agree that providing employee housing is important. Only 50% strongly agree that it is important for one’s home to have easy accessibility to Town amenities and services, while 7% disagree.

The survey asked residents if they would prefer to live in a neighborhood that was exclusively multi-family attached housing. 55% disagree; 37% strongly disagree; and 5% agree.

Asked if they would prefer to live in an exclusively single-family neighborhood, 37% agree and 28% disagree. Asked if they would prefer a neighborhood composed of a mix of housing types, 47% agree, 24% strongly agree, and 19% disagree.

To the question of whether residents would support the building of an affordable housing development near their home, 43% would support, while 31% would oppose, and 25% chose “Other” in order to be more specific with their answer. Webb stated that those who chose “Other” were concerned about whether “affordable housing” meant truly affordable.

BHI developed seven strategies for how the Town can move forward with implementing identified code changes. The strategies include allowing the construction of small square-footage residential units and smaller square-footage lot sizes; developing flexibility in land occupancy requirements; clarifying procedures for the development of affordable and diverse housing options; implementing a density bonus program; optimizing the development review process for affordable housing; optimizing the planned unit development (PUD) process for multi-unit affordable housing; and lowering development review fees and impact fees.

The strategies suggested by BHI were rated by whether they would help towards affordability considerations and towards increasing housing developments. The presentation from BHI defined the goal of “Increasing Housing Development” as encouraging the production of market rate housing, allowing more housing types, and making it easier to develop housing.

Affordability considerations were measured by the median household income of Nederland, $100,259; and the “affordable” monthly housing cost, $2,506.48, which is 30% of the median income. The considerations are focused on providing housing for those in the 80% to 120% average median income (AMI) brackets. Low-income and subsidized housing for those with lower AMI were not a focus of this study.

As for allowing smaller residential units and smaller lot sizes, the suggestion to commissioners was to add language specifying multi-family developments up to 4 units to be allowed by right.

It was also suggested to change Medium Density Residential zoning to allow a minimum lot size of 8,000 square feet, and to specify the dominant form of housing to be single-family detached. A change in High Density Residential zoning was also suggested in order to permit a minimum lot size of 4,000 square feet and also to specify single-family detached as the preferred housing type.

According to the survey results, 70% of residents were in favor of the Town allowing for the construction of smaller lot sizes.

BHI also suggested changing NMC Article IV, Section 16-98 to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to be constructed and occupied prior to the completed construction of the primary home.

The next suggested strategy, clarifying procedures for developing affordable and diverse housing options, involved specifying yard and bulk requirements for housing options like tiny homes, to make it easier for such developments to be considered in the appropriate zoning districts.

According to the survey results, 70% of residents supported smaller home options like tiny homes, and also 70% supported tiny home villages.

The next strategy was to implement a density bonus program to increase the number of permitted units in a development based on the condition that a specified percentage of units in that development be listed as affordable housing.

It was suggested to commissioners that all zoning classifications provide affordability requirements to developers. Currently, this provision only applies to the Neighborhood Commercial zone. It was also suggested that affordability requirements could be codified as a standalone section of NMC.

BHI included a breakdown of what would be required of the Town when developing an affordability program, stating that the Town would have to consider such factors as household income, the total number of units required to be affordable, and how long such units would need to be affordable.

64% of those surveyed were in favor of exploring affordability requirements for developers. However, such a program would need to be administered and monitored either by a third party or by Town staff, who would also be responsible for enforcing the imposed affordability requirements.

Regarding expediting the development review process for affordable housing development, it was suggested that commissioners create a timeline for affordable housing starts that would result in development, and implement the timeline as a formal resolution to be approved by the Nederland Board of Trustees (BOT). It was also suggested that the Town outline an affordable housing review process to optimize the housing proposal process.

As for streamlining the PUD process for multi-unit affordable housing development, Bohannan Huston suggested changing NMC Article VI, Sections 16-151 through 16-158 to either implement mandates like enforcing affordability through deed restrictions, shared equity, and land trusts; or implement incentives like density bonuses, fee waivers, and infrastructure support.

The last suggested strategy, to decrease development review fees, impact fees, and other associated fees, involved potentially making changes to Nederland’s fee schedules regarding commercial and residential TAP fees, as well as building and zoning fees.

It was also suggested that the Town impose both utility TAP and plant investment fees based on development lot or unit size, which would, according to BHI, incentivize smaller units and decrease development costs.

Other potential goals of this strategy would be for the Town to complete a new rate study with an additional focus on water rate affordability; to lower building- and zoning-related fees in place for affordable housing developments, or possibly waive the fees entirely; and to remove fees from building permits on affordable housing developments, rather only charging the 70% fee for SAFEbuilt’s costs.

According to the survey results, 60% of residents supported lowering local development fees.

The Planning Commission offered their feedback and recommendations on the strategies suggested by BHI. Concerns were raised about code language allowing for more units per property, specifically regarding how the Town could avoid code language that would mistakenly promote density congestion with multi-unit developments being built on lots that previously had single-family homes on them.

Webb added that the housing issues in Nederland are the same issues that all small mountain towns are experiencing. Similar municipalities have had housing studies performed and their results, as well as suggestions about code changes, have been the same. Though Webb noted that it was too early to judge success, he stated that policies have already been imposed and in some cases housing developments have begun building.

Regarding the possibility of the Town reducing fees associated with housing development, Town Administrator Miranda Fisher recommended a rate study be conducted first before assessing how best to reduce such fees.

Fisher also requested two volunteers from the Planning Commission to sit on a subcommittee, along with Town Staff and BHI, that will choose which of the seven suggestions to focus on and create code language for.

Mayor Pro Tem and BOT liaison to the Planning Commission Tom Mahowald, and Vice Chair Jim Reis volunteered for the subcommittee. The subcommittee is expected to finish the proposed code changes and associated draft language in time for the BOT to vote in November, in order for the code changes officially to be implemented by January 1, 2024.

The Nederland Planning Commission meets the fourth Wednesday of every month. Their next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 27, 2023, at 7 p.m. Meetings can be attended online via Webex.

For more information go to: https:// townofnederland.colorado.gov/planningcommission