NEDERLAND - The Nederland Planning Commission met on Wednesday, October 22, to review Ordinance 882, which establishes the First Street Overlay District (FSOD), a recommendation from the Town’s Downtown Subarea Plan.

Town Manager Jonathan Cain previously described the FSOD as a way to “apply additional or modified standards” to the Town’s Central Business District, and to codify certain form-based standards without having to reclassify each property’s zoning designation.

Prior discussions by the Commission led to the boundaries of the overlay district being expanded, agreement in support of Town staff drafting an ordinance for the creation of the overlay district, and updating and codifying specific downtown design standards. 

Commissioners decided that Planned Unit Developments (PUD) within the district should be forced to comply with the district’s standards, granted properties in the overlay district a maximum lot coverage of 80%, adjusted for setbacks and space between adjacent buildings, and called for a 10-foot front yard setback.

Parking requirements for commercial spaces were eliminated; the use of pedestrian spaces within the overlay district for vendors, outdoor eating areas, and for the common consumption of alcohol, was allowed; and a limit for marijuana dispensaries in the overlay district was originally considered but ultimately scrapped from the ordinance.

Though information was requested from the NFPD regarding whether they could provide adequate fire coverage and protection for a 45-foot high building, the Commission decided to approve 45 feet as the maximum allowable building height without having received that information. 

Commissioners also had reached an impasse concerning the maximum allowable footprint of “half a block” for new developments, as the true measure of “half a block” was unknown. 

The discussion continued Wednesday, with the Commission being tasked with deciding whether properties zoned as Public—which include the Nederland Town Hall and Visitors Center—should be exempt from the overlay district.  

Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen explained that Town-owned property is often exempt from such restrictions to ensure flexibility. As none of the Commissioners felt strongly about the matter, they decided to take Madsen’s advice and make public property exempt from the standards set in the ordinance. 

The commissioners discussed which roof types would be allowable and which should be discouraged in new developments within the overlay district, as the ordinance encourages roof designs to be “flat with parapets or incorporate front-facing gables consistent with the architectural character of the district.”

Flat roofs, per the Town’s building code and the International Building Code, are specified to include a slight slope for snow and wind conditions.

Currently, the ordinance prohibits mansard, butterfly, gambrel, and any other “complex or stylistically inconsistent” roof types.

The Commission did not object to any of the language used in the ordinance pertaining to roof type standards in the overlay district. 

Local Impact Accelerator fund

Sustainability Coordinator Cass Grady and Community Planner Britt DeMinck led the commission in a discussion about the Town taking part in Colorado Energy Office’s Local Impact Accelerator funding program, which has the intent of funding “decarbonization, clean transportation, and energy transition initiatives.” 

The Town aims to draft and send a Letter of Intent before the deadline of November 17 in order to be considered eligible for the program's two levels of support, which include policy and project acceleration. 

Considerations for which policies Nederland would want to accelerate include enhanced energy requirements for new developments; advanced policies for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU); a Complete Streets Policy, which involves interconnected bicycling, pedestrian, and vehicle infrastructure; a policy to support walkability by eliminating off-street parking requirements; and a policy of EV preference for procuring Town vehicles. 

Recommendations from Town staff regarding which projects could potentially be accelerated by the Colorado Energy Office’s program include an ADU Development Support Program, Active Transportation Planning for bicycling and pedestrian facility projects, a purchasing plan for procuring all electric equipment for Town’s trail maintenance and snow removal, and an electric transit shuttle service. 

As the total budget for the funding program is $50 million, with funding requests for policy acceleration not to exceed $200,000 and requests for project acceleration not to exceed $1.8 million, applicants to the program were asked to provide three budget proposals, ranging from a “fiscally constrained” budget of up to $500,000, a “standard” budget of $2 million, and a “vision” budget of up to $5 million.

The Town may be eligible to be exempt from having to provide any matching funds for the grant as long as “at least 40% of the application funds will be allocated to Census block groups in which 40% or more of households are identified as low income.”

Commissioners ranked the policies and projects according to their perspective regarding Town’s priorities. The leading policy the Commission recommended was an advanced ADU policy, and the leading project to propose was an ADU Development Support Program. 

The Nederland Planning Commission meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Their next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 26, 2025, at 6 p.m. Meetings can be attended online via WebEx. 

For more information: townofnederland.colorado.gov/planning-commission.