All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
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It's been nine months since the moratorium on development concluded for downtown Niwot and as yet, no new projects have been born, and new land use codes have not been put to the test. When the Boulder County Commissioners (BOCC) approved updated land use codes in April 2019, the nettlesome issue of access to the mostly unused alley between the residential side of the alley facing 3rd Avenue and the commercial area facing 2nd Avenue had yet to be laid to rest. BOCC approved more prescriptive...
Citing concerns over the appointment of new members of the Niwot Design Review Committee, member Anne Postle resigned from the Niwot LID Advisory Committee at its monthly meeting on Jan. 7. Reading from a letter she planned to send to the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners on Jan. 8, Postle said, "For me, with the NDRC process, this trust has again been compromised to the point that I cannot continue to serve as the NBA representative on the LID. I hope my resignation will be a wake-up...
An application submitted by the Niwot Business Association to build a 14-space multimodal parking facility with a potential expansion up to 50 spaces at the intersection of 3rd Avenue and Murray Street has been put on hold by the Boulder County Land Use department, pending more information about the potential effects on local traffic. According to a Jan. 3 message to NBA representative Bruce Warren from staff planner Molly Marcucilli, the county transportation department requested a hold of the...
Though many local businesses have reported lower earnings in 2019, year-to-date sales tax collections in the Niwot Local Improvement District are outpacing 2018 by nearly seven percent. To help explain the apparent contradiction and other district tax conundrums, the advisory committee invited LuAnn Pyatt of the Colorado Department of Revenue and Dave Thayer of Boulder County Financial Services to their monthly meeting on Nov. 5 for a discussion of how sales taxes are collected and distributed....
The Niwot Business Association (NBA) received word in June that a Boulder County Economic Vitality Grant it had applied for on behalf of Niwot's Left Hand Valley Grange had been approved. The grant is part of Boulder County's overall distribution of grant funds to one economic development organization in each municipality including Erie, Longmont, and Nederland. The fund was formerly called the Economic Development Grant. Boulder County's Economic Development website page reads, "In support of...
Niwot LID advisory committee held its monthly meeting on Sept. 4. Treasurer’s Report Treasurer Bruce Rabeler presented the LID’s latest revenue report from Boulder County, which showed that the district has collected $92,571 in revenues through June 2019, up 3% from the same period in 2018 ($89,844). However, the growth was concentrated in just a few sectors, most notably retail, where revenues were up nearly 7% (to $36,131 from $33,842). Revenues were down for the Accommodation/Food Ser...
The ultimate disposition of the NRCD Block 5 alley inched closer to resolution last week with a public meeting hosted by Boulder County land use and transportation staff to discuss the results of a recent traffic study in the area and the proposed design guidelines for any future improvements. Though some 2nd Avenue property owners expressed frustration with the potential restrictions and the county’s ongoing process, consensus emerged on at least one major outstanding issue—the driving surface...
The NRCD development moratorium and its repercussions dominated the discussion between the Niwot LID Advisory Committee and the Boulder County Commissioners at their annual joint meeting Aug. 6, but there were tentative signs that relations between the two boards might be on the mend. In concluding remarks, Commissioner Deb Gardner expressed remorse for the “acrimonious” process and pledged to work for improvements going forward. “We have some definite questions to bring to the land use depar...
Thirty years ago, Anne Postle was new to her career and a transplant to Colorado. Moving from Tempe, Ariz., after finishing her education at Arizona State University and becoming a licensed architect, she journeyed to Boulder to work for a large firm. She got her feet under her and after five years was ready to start her own firm. “Sometimes I look back and think, ‘How on earth did I ever think I could run a gallery or open my own firm?’” Postle said. “I honestly don’t know. I think that someti...
This article is the third in a series, which explores various subdivision paving issues in unincorporated Boulder County. Of HOAs and PIDs Jeff Maxwell, the new director of Boulder County Transportation, is well aware of road conditions and the ensuing issues involving subdivisions in the unincorporated county. He was very clear about what county transportation can and cannot do. Whether working with HOAs or creating a PID (Public Improvement District), county transportation can only act as...
On June 18, the Boulder County Commissioners considered a petition from the owners of the property where Left Hand Animal Hospital is now located, 304 Franklin Street in Niwot, to be annexed to the Niwot Local Improvement District. Mark Ruzzin, a member of the county commissioners’ staff, presented the petition to the commissioners, noting that the business was formerly located on 2nd Avenue, an area included in the district, but had recently moved to a location that is outside the district. The hospital’s new location is less than a block fro...
The Niwot Local Improvement District advisory committee held its monthly meeting on June 4. Treasurer Bruce Rabeler presented the LID’s latest revenue report from Boulder County, which showed that the district earned $16,406 in March, the highest total this year and the highest total for March in at least the past five years. Noting a similar total from February 2018 that is still in dispute, Rabeler speculated that this might be another case of a mistaken or misdirected deposit by the State o...
It was a busy month for the Niwot LID advisory committee, with a host of summer events on the funding docket, and some new business regarding liability. Things got rolling with Bruce Rabeler and the monthly treasurer’s report. On the revenue side, the county reported that LID businesses collected $25,585 in revenue during the first two months of 2019, down from 2017 ($27,290), but up from 2018, though the latter total is still not finalized due to what appears to be an erroneous credit that t...
The Boulder County Commissioners (BOCC), whose job includes the governance of Niwot, abdicated that role to a Land Use Department whose “arrogance of power” as Niwot resident and community volunteer Laura Skaggs put it, is out of control. The April 23 hearing on changes to the Niwot Rural Community District (NRCD) regulations once again demonstrated a blatant disregard of previous direction from the BOCC to Land Use and Transportation departments, most especially with regard to opening the alley behind 2nd Avenue to immediate use by commercial...
At the March 12 meeting regarding the building moratorium in downtown Niwot, Boulder County Commissioners were clear that alley access by all parties between the residential area on 3rd Avenue and the commercial area on 2nd Avenue was essential. One of their directives was for land use staff to develop a solution for alley use. Unfortunately for commercial property owners, the first meeting addressing a solution on the matter didn’t satisfy them. The upshot of the April 3 alley meeting with B...
The Niwot LID advisory board got a preview of the warm-weather months ahead at their monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 2. Treasurer Bruce Rabeler was first up with his budget report through the end of March 2019. To date, the LID has approved $38,401.11 in funding requests, or about 30 percent of its annual $132,854 budget. With nearly $30,000 in pending requests for April, total expenditures for the year are set to exceed 50 percent of the budget with eight months still to go in 2019. Rabeler...
Stalled plans to build a public parking lot west of old town Niwot could be getting a jump-start after Boulder County Commissioner Deb Gardner strongly suggested revisiting a county policy that has prevented the lot’s developers from moving ahead with construction. During a March 12 Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) public hearing on proposed updates to the Niwot Rural Community District (NRCD) land use code, Gardner questioned a provision in the 2011 Niwot Transportation and Connectivity P...
At what was potentially the final public meeting regarding the Niwot Rural Community District (NRCD) code update process on March 12, when Boulder County Commissioners (BOCC) could have approved land use staff’s proposed code updates for development in downtown Niwot, Commissioners Elise Jones, Matt Jones, and Deb Gardner instead chose to send the team back to the drawing board on several issues, thereby extending the six month moratorium on development by another month. While commercial entitie...
The Niwot LID advisory board is back at full strength, following the appointment of three new members late last month. Joining the six current members are residential representative Lisa Rivard, and business representatives Cornelia Sawle, owner of the Niwot Inn, and Mary Coonce, co-owner of Porchfront Homes, who was also elected to the Niwot Business Association’s executive board recently. The three fill the vacancies left by the departures of Harris Faberman, Carrie Wise, and Jay Champion d...
As a part of their last update to the Niwot Strategic Plan in 2017, the LID advisory board tasked the Niwot Business Association with developing a forward-looking “vision” to help guide funding decisions and planning over the next 10 years. NBA representatives finally unveiled that vision at the board’s regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 5. “It’s not a committed plan, and it’s not an approved plan,” NBA president Tony Santelli said while introducing Niwot Vision: 2029. “It’s a visio...
The Niwot LID Advisory Committee checked off a few boxes on its annual to-do list at its first meeting of the new year on Tuesday, Jan. 8. Treasurer Bruce Rabeler led off with a report on the district’s nascent 2019 finances. For the third straight year, the LID will have just under $133,000 in its initial budget (which is based on a percentage of the prior year’s revenue), thanks to flat revenue growth between 2017 and 2018. Through October of last year, tax collections in the LID were dow...
After 22 years of business, Howard Treppeda’s namesake restaurant sits empty. Preparing and serving food is what Treppeda’s career has been all about. It’s what he trained for when he took classes at the Cordon Bleu in Paris and at the Culinary Institute of America. It was what he did when he worked at a café in Amsterdam, eateries in Massachusetts and New York, and as the head chef of a restaurant in Connecticut. Naturally, it was what he did after he transplanted from the East Coast to Colora...
To the Editor: It has become painfully apparent that the Boulder County Land Use Staff is biased. This bias has compromised the safety of our 2nd Avenue sidewalks for 25 years. Unfortunately, the Community Meeting on Monday night was not productive, and it soon became clear that the focus was an exercise designed to steal property rights from the commercial property owners subject to the moratorium. The Land Use Staff orchestrated the night to address only the predetermined topics that Land Use has identified as necessary to limit the rights...
Boulder County is now accepting applications for two openings on the Niwot Local Improvement District (LID) Advisory Committee, a nine-member independent board that “prioritizes expenditures of the LID sales tax revenue,” and makes recommendations to the county commissioners. The Niwot LID was formed in 1992 and authorized to collect a half-percent sales tax to pay for street, drainage and other improvements in Old Town. In 2007 following a successful Niwot effort to change state law, vot...
Just over 20 years from now, already congested traffic conditions are expected to increase by 25 percent along Highway 119 (the Diagonal.) According to RTD’s website statistics, 45,000 cars, buses, trucks, and bikes use sections of Highway 119 on a daily basis. By the year 2040, some 56,000 vehicles will be a realistic number. Acknowledging the current aggravation of traveling along the corridor and wanting to prevent worsening conditions, the Boulder County Transportation Department and the R...
Since Michael Tomich and Patty Machen opened the door of Old Oak Coffeehouse a little over a year ago, it has lived up the symbolism of its namesake – it’s become a thriving and solid part of the community. So, when a smash and grab burglar made the cafe one of the victims of a string of small businesses robbed in the last two weeks, Tomich said the tree was a bit shaken. “To see someone in my shop, with a mask and gloves destroying and stealing,” Tomich said of the video footage he reviewe...
With most of its business for 2018 concluded, the Niwot LID advisory committee turned its gaze to 2019 at its regular monthly meeting on Nov. 13. Up first was newly-elected LID treasurer Bruce Rabeler with details about his recent meeting with liaison Mark Ruzzin and officials from the Boulder County finance department. Starting next year, the county will be implementing new rules concerning procurement, which may mean changes to current LID funding processes. Among the most significant changes...
More than two dozen people stepped up to the microphone in the Boulder County Commissioners’ hearing room on Oct. 30 regarding a temporary halt of development in downtown Niwot. The commissioners could vote to maintain, modify or rescind the moratorium they initially approved on Sept. 20. Dale Case, Boulder County Land Use Director said his department’s recommendation was to uphold the six-month moratorium on development in the Niwot Rural Community District (NRCD), but with the exclusion of...
On Tuesday, Oct. 23, the Niwot LID Advisory Committee welcomed county commissioners Cindy Domenico, Deb Gardner, and Elise Jones to the Left Hand Grange for a “very timely” discussion of the state of local affairs during the past 12 (or so) months. Ordinarily used as an opportunity to showcase the town’s recent successes, this year’s presentation to the commissioners was fraught with anxiety about the county’s development moratorium, which was scheduled for a public hearing on Oct. 30. Ackno...
Owing to a surprise six-month development moratorium imposed on Sept. 20 by the Boulder County Commissioners for the Niwot Rural Community District (NRCD), Bradford Heap, owner of Colterra Restaurant, a mainstay in the Old Town commercial area, stated, “The moratorium is preventing me from reopening [Colterra] and that’s what I know. That’s a fact. I can’t go into the particulars, but there are a lot of things.” Colterra, which opened in 2005, suffered fire damage to the kitchen in early mor...
In the wake of the Boulder County Commissioners’ temporary moratorium on new development applications in the Niwot Rural Community District (NRCD), the Niwot LID advisory committee welcomed Land Use director Dale Case and his staffers, Jose Ruano and Denise Grimm, to the Oct. 2 meeting to discuss the wider implications of such a ban, as well as the next steps in the process. They also considered a funding request, elected a new slate of officers, and discussed the agenda for the upcoming m...
At their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 4, members of the Niwot LID advisory committee considered just a single funding request, but members had plenty of new business on their minds, including funding alternatives for future capital projects and upcoming development projects in Old Town. Boulder County liaison Mark Ruzzin presented the monthly financials to lead off the meeting. As of Aug. 31, the LID has approved $155,105 in disbursements, about $22,000 over the budget, which is...
The agenda may have been light, but the concerns were weighty at the Aug. 7 meeting of the Niwot LID Advisory Board. Facing a supplement budget allocation in order to continue funding activities for the remainder of the year, the board discussed its finances and, more broadly, setting priorities for upcoming expenditures. Board members also considered a funding proposal from the Niwot Business Association (NBA), and heard about some upcoming transportation projects slated for the area. Boulder...
The Niwot LID Advisory Committee got a taste of winter at its July 3 meeting, and not just because it was a bracing 56 degrees in the conference room at the Mountain View Fire Station. Though Christmas is still half a year away, a twin bill of holiday-themed funding requests topped the evening’s agenda, giving the committee a preview of some changes in store for the traditional kick-off to the town’s holiday shopping season. Boulder County liaison Mark Ruzzin kicked off the meeting with a rec...
The abundance of vibrant, carefully-maintained flower pots that has long been a signature of the summer season in Niwot was devastated by the midday hail storm that roared through town on June 19. “Almost every single container suffered some kind of damage,” Chuck Klueber of the Niwot Business Association Streetscapes Committee said. “Some weren’t damaged as badly as others, because they were protected by trees or posts or flags. It just depended on where they were.” Using funds furnished...
At its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 5, the Niwot LID Advisory Committee considered funding requests for the eighth annual Jazz on 2nd Avenue festival, as well for mowing of the future parking lot west of Old Town. Before hearing the evening’s applications, members reviewed Treasurer Harris Faberman’s report through the end of May. So far, the LID has committed to $109,314 in expenses in 2018, leaving $23,686 from the budget to spend for the remainder of the year. However, the report...
At the regular monthly meeting on May 1, the Niwot LID Advisory Committee got a sneak peek at the Niwot Business Association’s new branding campaign, and heard about some important changes in store for this year’s Rock & Rails Summer concert series. Boulder County liaison Mark Ruzzin kicked off the meeting with a brief discussion about officer elections, a subject curiously left out of the Committee’s bylaws. Leadership of the nine-member Committee consists of a Chair, who conducts the meeti...
On Tuesday April 3, the Niwot LID Advisory Committee held its first monthly meeting since the appointment of Scott Firle, Anne Postle, and Bruce Rabeler to the board by the Boulder County Commissioners late last month. On hand to welcome them were current members Bruce Warren, Jim Eastman, Harris Faberman, Carrie Wise, Jay Champion, and Laura Skaggs, who was also reappointed to board for a second five-year term. “It’s great to have new individuals and faces on the board,” Boulder County liais...
The Boulder County Commissioners picked several new members for the Niwot Local Improvement District last week. Current Co-Chair Laura Skaggs was re-appointed as the Niwot Community Association representative for her second five-year term. Anne Postle was nominated by the Niwot Business Association to replace term-limited Tony Santelli, and the commissioners confirmed her as the Niwot Business Association representative for a five-year term. Postle is an architect and owner of Osmosis Art & Architecture in Niwot, and is also a resident of...
The Niwot LID Advisory Committee held its regularly scheduled monthly meeting on March 6, despite the fact that the Boulder County Commissioners have yet to fill the four vacancies that opened when five-year terms for four of the board’s nine members expired. Boulder County staff liaison Mark Ruzzin cited unexpected travel commitments and illnesses for the delay by the commissioners, and invited the departing members—Satir DeMarco, co-Chair Laura Skaggs, Tony Santelli, and Howard Tre...
Current officers of the Niwot Business Association were re-elected at the February 13 NBA meeting, hosted by the Niwot Inn and Treppeda’s Italian Restaurant. In the only contested rate, incumbent vice-president Deborah Fowler was re-elected as vice-president over Jim Ditzel. Tony Santelli will continue as president, Linda Klueber will return as secretary, and Dayna Roane was re-elected as treasurer. The NBA officers also serve as the board of directors. Santelli thanked Ditzel for his interest in serving the NBA and welcomed his continued i...
On Feb. 6, the Niwot LID Advisory Committee considered five funding requests, got a sneak preview of the NBA’s 2018 budget and heard after-action reports for two popular events from last year. They also said goodbye to AC members Tony Santelli and Howard Treppeda, who will be stepping down at the end of the month when their latest five-year terms expire. Treasurer Harris Faberman led off with an update on the District’s 2017 finances. The LID collected $13,253.70 in sales tax revenue for Nov...
After a short thank you by Chuck Klueber, Niwot Business Association Streetscapes Coordinator, a few key people grabbed shovels on this brisk day, and moved some dirt for an official groundbreaking to start the Connectivity Project, which covers about 5000 square feet at the corner of Niwot Road and 79th Street. Aiming for an end of March completion of the dirt moving, rock placement, and infrastructure, Outdoor Craftsmen owner Scott Deemer said his workers were ready to start work as soon as...
The Advisory Committee to the Niwot Local Improvement District (LID) held its first meeting of 2018 on Tuesday, Jan. 9. Treasurer Harris Faberman led off with his report on the District’s 2017 finances. Through October 2017, the LID collected $149,474 in sales tax revenue, up 8.4 percent from the same point last year. If this trend continues for November and December, the LID is on pace to collect about $182,500 for the year, roughly $12,000 more than in 2016. On the other side of the ledger, t...
The Advisory Committee to the Niwot Local Improvement District (LID) held its first meeting of 2018 on Tuesday, Jan. 9. Treasurer Harris Faberman led off with his report on the District’s 2017 finances. Through October 2017, the LID collected $149,474 in sales tax revenue, up 8.4 percent from the same point last year. If this trend continues for November and December, the LID is on pace to collect about $182,500 for the year, roughly $12,000 more than in 2016. On the other side of the ledger, t...
The Niwot Business Association’s plans to create a visitor attraction connecting Old Town and Cottonwood Square received a big boost late last year when local businessman Scott Deemer of landscape design firm Outdoor Craftsmen, Ltd., agreed to donate both labor and materials towards the creation of a public art space on the northeast corner of the Cottonwood Park West neighborhood. Construction of the park-like area could begin as soon as late January, according to NBA’s Chuck Klueber, who has b...
Boulder County is now accepting applications for open positions on the Niwot Local Improvement District (LID) Advisory Committee. The nine-member LID Advisory Committee “is an independent board that provides the Boulder County Commissioners with recommendations for improvements to the LID,” according to Boulder County. The committee is primarily responsible for overseeing expenditures of the town’s sales tax revenue, which is generated by business retail sales within Niwot’s business district, i...
Plans for a public parking lot west of Old Town Niwot moved forward last week after Boulder County officials cleared some administrative hurdles. At a public hearing held on Nov. 15, the Boulder County Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of amendments to the Boulder County Land Use Code that will allow for “offsite parking in areas where onsite parking is constrained and where the allowance of offsite parking facilities would help maintain the character and function of the a...
Plans for a public parking lot west of Old Town Niwot moved forward last week after Boulder County officials cleared some administrative hurdles. At a public hearing held on Nov. 15, the Boulder County Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of amendments to the Boulder County Land Use Code that will allow for “offsite parking in areas where onsite parking is constrained and where the allowance of offsite parking facilities would help maintain the character and function of the a...
Niwot will soon be home to a new business that has been over 3 years in the works. Callie Craumer and daughter Caitlin will be opening a Starbuds Dispensary at 6924 N. 79th Street in Cottonwood Square Shopping Center that is close to completion. Callie said that they initially purchased the property in 2014 as a real estate investment and to relocate their family to Colorado which was part of their long-term plan. “We’re hoping we’ll have a successful business and be a contributor to the commu...
