Nederland residents gripped printed speeches while waiting Thursday evening to address the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners with concerns about the future of their small mountain community.
Commissioners conducted their August town hall in Nederland to meet with residents and hear about pressing issues for the town. About 25 people attended the town hall.
The meeting in Nederland comes as the town prepares for an election this month to replace its former mayor who resigned only months after taking office and to fill a seat on the Board of Trustees. The future of the town’s police department is also uncertain after two of the town’s police officers resigned in July, leaving the department with only three officers.
During the meeting, numerous Nederland residents spoke, but two key issues took front and center: gun safety and affordable housing.
Anita Moss, a Nederland resident, expressed frustration and outrage while reading her statement to county leaders about annual high-powered rifle hunting allowed on Sugarloaf.
She said she’s been talking with the commissioners since 2012 about extending the 4.5 square miles around Sugarloaf that is already closed to hunters by an additional 5.5 square miles to protect adjacent neighborhoods.
“This is a residential neighborhood,” Moss said. “Last year we had 22 school days where kids were moving through the forests to get to the bus stops, and we had hunters in our community while these kids were moving.
“Do you think we should wait until someone’s injured or killed before we close an area that has residential population like this?”
Commissioner Claire Levy on Thursday addressed Moss, saying she is also frustrated that nothing has been done to close the area to hunters.
Levy said after meeting with county attorneys, commissioners learned they cannot restrict licensed hunters from hunting in the area based on a Colorado statute.
That statute, Moss said, gives counties permission to regulate the discharge of firearms in areas with an average population of at least 100 persons per square mile.
But Levy added that if the statute does not give the county authority to restrict hunting in the area, it can be changed.
“I do agree with you that it’s unsafe to hunt in a community as dense as yours,” Levy said.
During the evening, Teagen Blakey, who lives on Magnolia Road in Boulder County, read statements from her neighbors who share concerns similar to Moss’. But unlike Moss’ displeasure with hunters in a populous area, residents on Magnolia Road are concerned about target shooting near their homes.
“It’s an issue that a lot of residents have put a lot of time into trying to find a solution on,” Blakey said. “We are so close to the end because of what the forest service has done.”
In 2020, Boulder County Commissioners voted unanimously to approve phase one of a Boulder rifle range expansion. Officials with the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests in 2019 announced plans to close portions of forest service land to recreational shooting once options for shooting at public ranges were developed. Phase one of the rifle club’s expansion will meet the requirements to close sections of Forest Service land to recreational shooting — an issue that many campers, hikers and mountain community members report is a problem in Boulder County.
But one issue to sealing the deal and opening the range remains: funding.
“We feel that talking about saving lives — both residents and recreators — is a lot more a concern than a concern about noise complaints,” Blakey said.
Commissioner Matt Jones responded to Blakey’s plea to end target shooting near her neighbor and said the county is looking at options to continue to fund the gun range expansion.
When it comes to expanding Nederland’s limited affordable housing, Kayla Evans said she has a plan. It’s a plan she’s had for a long time.
“I have been trying for nine years to annex 17 acres into the town of Nederland to build affordable housing,” Evans told commissioners. “The reason I can do this is because I do not have to purchase the property. It’s part of my family’s ranch.”
Evans said Nederland completed a housing needs assessment in 2014, and at that time, the town was in need of 210 units to supply the housing demand.
“What do you think it’s at today?” she asked.
She urged commissioners to continue working with town officials to change the language in Nederland’s Intergovernmental Agreement to give the town the authority to make annexation decisions rather than leaving it up to the county.
“Please understand that there are people that really want to help and do work with the county to solve these problems, but the feeling is that there is a hesitancy to really be committed and actually do things that are beneficial to the town of Neverland,” Evans said.
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