John Scarffe, Nederland. The Nederland Board of Trustees approved submitting drawings to CDOT for the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and an exemption of Lot Line Dissolution and Replat for 46 Pine Cliff during a regular on-line meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 16, 2021. The Board also discussed opting out of marijuana hospitality establishments and an ordinance regarding encroachment on Town rights of way. 

TIP Grant

Public Works Manager Chris Pelletier told the Board that last month he brought this project in front of them, and it hadn’t changed much. The Board gave him direction to get more feedback regarding the flow of traffic and the sidewalk by Ned’s. 

Nederland was awarded $1.5 million for the Transportation Improvement Program in September 2019. The project consists of a multi-modal sidewalk from Town Hall to the RTD Park-n-Ride and on North Jefferson Street in front of Kathmandu. 

The project will also include electric charging stations and bike racks, according to the agenda information memorandum. This project is a collaboration with the Nederland Downtown Development Authority (NDDA) to include paving the Visitor Center Parking Lot and North Jefferson Street. 

At the September 1, 2020, Board meeting, the Board approved the final draft of the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) presented by staff that provides project guidance and incorporates the Town’s priorities based on Advisory Board feedback. Once the OPR was approved, Staff began working with the Town’s Engineers to develop a project that aligns with the OPR and Advisory Board input. 

During the next three months, staff began to reach out to the Town’s Advisory Boards to receive input and make revisions to the design proposals. Staff has followed the guidelines of Nederland’s Planning Process to create an OPR based on feedback from Nederland’s Advisory Boards.

Staff has since been giving presentations and receiving feedback on the proposed project from Nederland committees including the Parks and Recreation Open Spaces Advisory Board (PROSAB), the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB), NDDA, and the Planning Commission. Additionally, Staff has posted information about the project on the Town’s website and communicated with area businesses and property owners to provide as much transparency as possible. 

Staff was directed at the January 21, 2021 Trustees meeting to put forth more effort to get feedback on certain portions of the design involving traffic flow and parking. Staff has since included the project in the Mountain-Ear newspaper to garner additional feedback from the public. Staff also participated in a podcast on February 8, 2021, to talk about the project and some of the key details, according to the memo. 

Staff has met with some adjacent property owners to resolve potential conflicts and continues to meet with anyone interested in the project. Pelletier asked if the Board supports staff submitting the proposed drawings for CDOT Field Inspection Review and recommended bringing the plan back with any recommended revisions as an action item at a future meeting for submission to CDOT for Field Inspection Review (FIR). 

This is the first step towards final design approval from CDOT that represents a 30 percent design submission and time for CDOT Staff to review and comment. This can take up to 12 weeks.

Mayor Kristopher Larsen said submitting this looks good, and the Board agreed to submit it. 

46 Pine Cliff

Town Clerk Miranda Fisher introduced an application by Lee Stadele, agent for 46 Pine Cliff LLC, for an exemption from completing a lot line dissolution and replat. On December 4, 2020, Stadele contacted the Town regarding Lot 76, addressed as 46 Pine Cliff Trail and 50 Pine Cliff Trail, Nederland, and explained that at some point, without Town approval, the lot was split via a deed that was written for the north half and the south half. 

“Stadele requested that the Town file a correction deed to bring the lot back into conformity with the goal of allowing a building permit to be issued for the entire Lot 76 as originally platted,” according to the memo. Because the Town codes do not specify a process for this request, the recommendation was that Stadele apply for consideration by the Planning Commission and Board of Trustees. 

“As a courtesy, notice was posted on the property and mailed to property owners within 300 feet of the property. The split of Lot 76 into a northern portion and southern portion was in violation of the Nederland Municipal Code (NMC) because a subdivision of land must be submitted to the Planning Commission and approved by the Board of Trustees,” according to the memo. 

A request was never submitted for the subdivision of Lot 76, so it was never approved. The split lots are currently not in compliance with zoning codes because the split portions of Lot 76 are not sufficient lot sizes in the Big Springs area. 

“Both portions of Lot 76 are under the same ownership. 46 Pine Cliff LLC desires to build a residential structure on a combined Lot 76. In recognizing that this split was not properly completed, it is likely in the interest of the Town to assist the property owner to remedy the situation so that the property owner can build on the lot,” according to the memo. 

Town staff recommended that Stadele present a land use application before the Planning Commission requesting documentation that the prior split of Lot 76 was in error and there is no division of Lot 76. The Planning Commission reviewed the application at its January 27, 2021, meeting and unanimously recommended approval to move the application before the Trustees.

The Board agreed that it’s a mistake made in the past, and this is a correction. The Board approved the application.

Marijuana Hospitality Establishments

At the special Trustees meeting on August 11, 2020, the Board unanimously approved an emergency ordinance imposing a temporary moratorium on the submission, acceptance, processing, and approval of any license application for all retail and medical marijuana establishments. A Marijuana Ordinance Review Committee was formed to investigate, review, and analyze potential new Town regulations for marijuana-related businesses that are designed to limit the concentration or number of marijuana businesses within the Town. 

On December 15, 2020, the Board passed an ordinance limiting the number of retail and medical marijuana stores to four locations, according to the memo. Following the adoption of the ordinance, the committee met to discuss marijuana hospitality establishments, which includes mobile hospitality establishments, retail marijuana hospitality and sales establishment licenses, according to the memo. 

The committee considered three options and agreed on a vote of four in favor of opting out of hospitality establishments and two in favor of maintaining status quo. The Trustees were asked if they want the Town to opt out of marijuana hospitality establishments. 

The Board can place the item on a future agenda or move this discussion item to an action item tonight. Trustee Julian Taylor said the committee was diverse, and they had two meetings in which they invited experts. How do any marijuana hospitality establishments, where marijuana is being consumed, help Nederland, he asked? 

Trustee Eric Coombs Esmail said they don’t allow cigarette smoking in buildings so why should they allow marijuana? He asked if they opted out now could it be reversed. “We don’t need to establish such a culture in Nederland.”

Mayor Larsen suggested going out and talking to people and not pushing through this tonight. Trustees expressed concerns about the delayed reactions of marijuana and people driving on winding roads out of Nederland. Three members of the public expressed concerns about health, second-hand smoke and teen substance abuse if they were allowed.

Larsen said they should bring this back as an action item at the next meeting. He would like the committee to reconvene on mobile delivery and town staff to work with Trustee Taylor on the licenses and a nod of approval for Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen to work on this effort as well. The Board gave a nod of four to work on delivery regulations and a process for determining how to approve licenses when the limit has not been met while aligning code with state regulations.

Encroachments on Town Right-of-Way

Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen introduced amendments to the Nederland Municipal Code related to encroachments on Town right-of-way and unlawful temporary occupation of the right-of-way. At the January 19 meeting, the Board considered whether to adopt a process to require encroachment licenses for the occupation of Town property. 

The Board provided direction to Town Staff to prepare an ordinance. Throughout the Town, areas exist where private property owners are using portions of the Town right-of-way or the Town’s property, according to the memo.

These encroachments are generally in the form of buildings and parking lots. These encroachments may be considered a trespass on the Town’s property. 

The Board of Trustees and Town staff have been addressing these encroachments in a piecemeal manner and, typically, when the property owner brings forward a land use application such as a special review use request. For those recent requests, the recommendation has been to ask the property owner to enter into an encroachment license with the Town, according to the memo.

“The reasons for the encroachment licenses are to document and memorialize that the property owner is encroaching on Town property and to identify the rights and responsibilities related to the use of Town property. Memorializing the obligations of the property owner and the Town benefits both the Town and the property owner,” according to the memo.

 Other municipalities have implemented a process to address these encroachments in a more methodical manner rather than only as applications are submitted. These municipalities have adopted a process requiring property owners to apply for the ability to occupy Town property. 

Madsen attached a draft ordinance which includes a process for requiring property owners to enter into encroachment agreements for buildings, structures, fences, trees, or other obstructions that encroach on Town property. This process also regulates temporary occupations of the Town right-of-way and provides that these are unlawful without the prior approval of the Town Clerk. 

This code language is common in municipalities because it requires advance notice to the Town Public Works Manager for conduct that occurs on Town property, according to the memo. These sections also give the Town Public Works Manager authority to contact and educate the offender that the conduct is unlawful and request voluntary compliance. 

Madsen asked if the Board approved bringing forward the Draft Ordinance 815 as an action item and placed it on the agenda for a meeting in March 2021.

Town Clerk Miranda Fisher said the plan would be for the Town to reach out to property owners. Trustees said this will give the town the opportunity to clean things up. 

Larsen suggested bringing this as an action item and to also consider the appeal process. 

The next meeting of the Nederland Board of Trustees will be on March 2, 2021. For more information, go to https://nederlandco.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=298.

(Originally published in the February 25, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)