On Feb. 6, trustees received an update on the town’s comprehensive plan, which has been in process since late 2023. Much of the discussion focused on how detailed and specific the plan — meant to guide development in town for the next decade — should be.
“This is an overarching document, overarching strategies on how we can continue to get where we’re going as a community,” said Jim Reis, chair of Nederland’s Planning Commission. “The fine details are going to come down to the Board of Trustees. We don’t want to tie anybody’s hands.”
“I would like to see it hold us accountable,” countered trustee and mayor pro tem Nichole Sterling. “The problem with past [plans] was you could argue both sides.”
Mayor Billy Giblin agreed. “I thought that was part of what we were going to do was give it more teeth,” he said. “Historical comp plans are great, but I thought we were after something that’s better.”
The plan was last updated in 2013. Town staff and planning commission members pushed back on adding specificity to the plan, which has already been changed from earlier drafts “soften” the language. Key “strategies” were substituted for “actions” at the behest of advisory boards, staff and consultants said.
“We heard from the planning commission and some of the board representatives [that] when we had 10 actions in a specific chapter, it felt like we needed to check off every one of those actions,” said Ayden Eickhoff, a planner with consultant SE Group. “By saying strategies, if you complete two to three of them, you’re still making progress.”
There were similar concerns among trustees about land use maps and references to vacant parcels that may have development potential. Some properties identified as publicly owned are actually under conservation easements, trustees noted, and therefore not available for building.
“Just because we said these are vacant parcels, it wasn’t being communicated that these have potential for development,” Eickhoff said. The plan is not “an assignment for zoning” but an assessment of current conditions and an evaluation of potential options.
"We will have to go through many, many meetings" to implement any of the plans suggestions, added Planning Commissioner Roger Cornell.
Nearly 27% of Nederland’s land is undeveloped, according to the plan, most of it privately owned.
Housing — and where it could potentially be built — was a big focus of the plan. A housing needs assessment found that Nederland needs 65-150 new rental housing units and 50-110 new for-sale homes by 2032 to meet current demand.
Several strategies in the comprehensive plan address the need for more housing, including reducing red tape for apartments and affordable housing developments; an exploration of inclusionary housing, in which developers are required to provide affordable housing; and an evaluation of the Wolf Tongue industrial zone to allow different uses, residential among them.
Another suggestion is to allow in-home childcare businesses without development review, to help address the state’s shortage of affordable care.
The plan was written to provide strategies for “a community that desperately needs housing,” Eickoff said.
The comprehensive plan also includes a 15-year guiding vision for the downtown area. High-level suggestions include sidewalk improvements, a redesign of the intersection at Lakeview and Highway 72 and exploration of a waterfront park and amphitheatre near Barker Meadow Reservoir.
Trustees do not approve the plan, but they did suggest revisions to give the plan more specificity. If adopted, the plan returns to trustees for trustees to vote on a resolution of support.
This is not a regulatory document," Town administrator Jonathan Cain reminded trustees, "and there’s no way to turn it into a regulatory document. There is no way to give this teeth."
The Planning Commission is scheduled to vote on adoption of the plan at its Feb. 26 meeting and public hearing.