NEDERLAND — Four months and four days after Caribou Village shopping center was destroyed by a fire, a plan to test for asbestos at the site—which will eventually pave the way for a plan to demolish what remains—was approved by the state.

Photo by Brittney Wagner

Nederland Mayor Billy Giblin shared the news during the February 17 Board of Trustees meeting. The Colorado Department of Public Health issued a stabilization permit to property owner Tebo Properties on Friday, February 13, he said. Next up comes testing. 

“If the testing is clear of asbestos, they go to a less rigorous process to clean things up,” Giblin said. “If they do find asbestos” cleanup will take longer and cost more: Tebo spokesperson Bill Rigler told Westword it would add 3-6 months to the project timeline and $1 million in expenses.

An asbestos removal company has been retained by Tebo, Giblin said Tuesday evening.

The possible presence of asbestos, and disagreements on how to proceed, has delayed the cleanup process at 20 Lakeview Drive. Tebo maintains that more than 75 samples were free of the toxic building material; the state has argued that’s not good enough, and that demolition can only proceed with safety measures in place presuming the presence of asbestos. 

Despite the delay, Giblin said he was relieved to see workers on site Tuesday. Though the wintry weather kept them from getting much done, he was “happy to see them show up with a truck,” he said.

Photo by Brittney Wagner

“It begins. It’s still a process ahead of us, but it has started.”

Trustees punt on height limit

The majority of Tuesday’s meeting was given to a tense discussion about a proposed overlay district for downtown Nederland—specifically, how tall buildings there should be. 

A subarea plan created as part of the recent Comprehensive Plan update recommended 45 feet as the maximum for buildings with pitched roofs; those with flat tops should be 35 feet. That’s the proposal Nederland’s Planning Commission backed as well, and the one preferred by downtown property owners.

But fire officials say taller buildings could compromise emergency response and potentially raise insurance rates for everyone in Nederland Fire Protection District. 

Nederland FPD covers 52 square miles and serves roughly 7,000 people. The overlay district, meanwhile, would apply to properties along First Street and generally bounded by W. Second Street, Snyder Street, Boulder Creek, and Jackson Street.

An overlay allows rules distinct from underlying zoning. In Nederland’s central business district, the underlying height limit is 35 feet—and there it shall remain unless the overlay implements a new, 45-foot limit. 

Though it’s only a difference of 10 feet, the extra height presents a myriad of complications for fire fighting, according to Chief Charlie Schmidtmann.

Nederland’s current ladder can’t reach beyond 30-35 feet, Schmidtmann said. Though it’s technically 55 feet long, it typically needs to be deployed at an angle for safe use. A bigger truck would help, but there’s nowhere to park it: Nederland FPD would need a larger station to accommodate it. 

There are other ways to fight fires in taller buildings—“Whatever happens, the fire department will respond,” Schmidtmann said—but it could impact the their ISO rating, the “golden standard” for judging a fire district’s performance.

Insurance companies often use the ISO to set rates for individual homeowners. A higher ISO could result in higher rates for the entire district—and residents are already struggling with increased costs. 

“I want to make sure we’re doing everything that we can to keep insurance as low as possible,” he said. “It’s not fair to Ms. Smith on Third Street to offset the cost of somebody that is developing on First Street.”

Nederland FPD currently has an ISO rating of 4 and is hoping to drip it to a 3. For comparison, Boulder is at a 1, the highest score a department can receive. 

“If we raise the height of some of our buildings, we could run the risk of going backward,” Schmidtmann said. “When we need to reach the tops of buildings and can’t do that, we lose points.”

Property owners insist it’s not feasible to build a three-story building that adhered to the 35-foot limit, and not economically viable to build anything under three stories.

“The thing that a developer looks at and has to of course is whether or not he’d be able to make the project pay for itself and be functional enough for the people who are going to try to earn a living in the areas they rent,” said Ron Mitchell during the public hearing. “The difference in terms of probability of success between 35 feet and 45 feet is extremely significant.”

With a 35-foot limit, “you’re precluding development,” said David Sites, another downtown property owner.

Proponents of the higher limit also pointed to the extensive process of crafting the subarea plan, which set a benchmark for community engagement. 

“This was an 18-month process for us,” said Jim Reis, chair of Nederland’s Planning Commission. “We had three work sessions. There was 334 separate engagements during this comprehensive plan process.”

But, he admitted, the Planning Commission “didn’t consider fire safety. That was not our role.”

Ultimately, Trustees decided to wait for more information before directing staff to draft an ordinance. They also wanted to include Trustees Luke Miller and Tierney Maris, absent Tuesday.

Trustees will resume the overlay discussion March 3, with a vote set for March 17. 

New council already short

March 17 will be the final gathering of this current Board. Terms for Giblin, Maris, Andrew Joslin, and Tania Corvalan all end this year. 

Giblin is seeking re-election as mayor, with Trustee Nichole Sterling challenging him for the seat. Joslin is also seeking re-election; Matthew Kennedy joins him on the ballot.

Because three trustee spots are open and only two candidates are running, a vacant spot will need to be filled by appointment or special election, Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen said Tuesday night. 

That corrects her assertions at a previous meeting that write-in candidates would be allowed. The statutory deadline for such candidates was February 2.

“My earlier statement would have been correct if this was a polling place election, but because it’s mail-in … there are no valid write-in candidates for this election,” Madsen said. 

Ballots will be mailed March 23. Election day is Tuesday, April 7.