Niwot LID members meet with County Commissioners

All nine members of the Niwot Local Improvement District Advisory Committee (LID) met with Boulder County Commissioners Claire Levy and Marta Loachamin on Aug. 12 at the Left Hand Grange building in Niwot.

The meeting, which had been rescheduled several times, is an annual affair in which LID members can give an update on the state of Niwot and hear directly from the commissioners about their priorities.

County Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann, who is the elected representative from an area which includes Niwot, was unable to attend as she was representing Boulder County at another meeting.

Following introductions by LID chair Scott Firle, LID vice-chair Eric Bergeson, who is also president of the Niwot Business Association, gave a "State of Niwot" presentation. Bergeson presented a slide show demonstrating the decline in LID revenues for the past three years. "There have been a few businesses that have closed," he said. "It is concerning."

Bergeson, who owns the Niwot Wheel Works and The Wheel House businesses, said increasing property taxes, insurance costs, utilities and the county's minimum wage ordinance made it harder for businesses to survive. He mentioned recent closures of the Wandering Jellyfish bookstore and the 1914 House restaurant, saying, "We remember what a ghost town feels like," referring to the business downturn in 2008 which led to multiple commercial vacancies in Niwot. He added, "There is a general reluctance of property owners to develop key properties," citing the former Niwot Rental & Feed store, the former Excel Electric building and Franklin Commons, which formerly housed Colterra restaurant.

LID members have had informal one-on-one discussions with the county commissioners about the new minimum wage ordinance which applies only to unincorporated Boulder County businesses, and Bergeson said, "Where Boulder County can help is to link to the lowest municipality minimum wage in the county."

Bergeson added a request that the county commissioners support improvements to the Niwot business district, the master plan created by the LID, and the CO 119 Bikeway Median project access to Niwot.

Loachamin asked about the "ghost town" reference, and LID member Mary Coonce, who co-owns Porchfront Homes with her husband Tim Coonce, noted that the historic Bader House property now known as Franklin Commons has been vacant since a fire in 2017 closed the restaurant. She also noted that the former feed store has been vacant for two years. "We would like to have some mixed-use residential," she said. Carrie Wise, co-owner of Wise Buys Antiques and former LID member who served as co-chair for several years, said, "Tim [Wise] and I have had our business for 38 years. We need people from outside of Niwot [to shop here]."

Commissioner Levy responded, asking if it was economically viable to build residential units. "Are we seeing plans that can't be built?"

Dave Lee of the Niwot architectural firm Fletemeyer & Lee Associates noted that Niwot is "kind of built out unless we do in-fill development." LID member Cornelia Sawle, who owns the Niwot Inn & Spa, said that high property taxes were a concern of many businesses, and noted that "people in town do contribute a lot to our businesses."

Bergeson then turned the meeting over to Lee and his partner, Chad Fletemeyer, who described the LID's creation of a master plan for Niwot that looks not only to the next five years, but well beyond, so that improvements made now are consistent with a long-range vision.

Lee spoke of improving signage in and around Niwot, especially for people coming into Niwot on Niwot Road from CO 119. He also mentioned the creation of a historic-looking train stop. Lee also spoke about connecting the downtown business district with Cottonwood Square through improvements to the 2nd Avenue-Niwot Road intersection, and possibly brick pavers that link the two commercial areas. "You don't see into the shopping center as it is now," he said, describing visual barriers.

Lee also noted recent efforts to work with Cottonwood Park West HOA to create a community park on the corner while keeping the existing sculptures there, and a new sidewalk improvement project on the south side of Niwot Road that would extend east to Left Hand Valley Grange Park, where the Niwot community is working with the county to place the restored tree-carvings of Eddie Running Wolf. Lee described the proposed location as a "more natural setting" with a tipi-like structure that would protect the restored sculptures from most of the elements. He also mentioned creation of a nature walk and turning the pond along Niwot Road into a traditional fishing pond as elements of the master plan.

Bergeson closed the LID's presentation with a discussion of an underpass into Niwot from the CO 119 Bikeway Median project. Efforts by the LID's committee, working with Fletemeyer & Lee Associates, to design an underpass has led to disagreement with the county's project planners on the best way to provide access to Niwot.

Levy responded that the project involved CDOT, RTD, and county staff working together. She said, "Our executive team thinks they have made a final decision." Fletemeyer noted that the LID was in contact with Burlington Northern Railroad on extending the underpass to go under the tracks as well as the Longmont-bound lanes of CO 119. Lee said, "We need to get the mouth of the tunnel to be seen from the RTD parking lot. There are safety concerns. We don't want a giant fence along the railroad tracks."

Lee asked that the access to Niwot, which is currently unfunded, be paused as the LID works on the best approach to the underpass. "Our message is 'please don't spend money on engineering. If the railroad approves, there's no question that it's the safest and cheapest.'" Fletemeyer added, "Louisville just did an underpass and it's the new face of Louisville."

Levy responded, "I will take that message back to the executive committee."

The meeting concluded with a presentation of the county commissioners' 2024-26 Strategic Priorities Report. Loachamin said the first priority of the county involves housing accessibility and affordability. The second priority is resident self-sufficiency and the third priority is mental and behavioral health.

Speaking to the housing priority, Bergeson asked, "What can the county do without zoning changes?" Levy responded, "We don't want to see a lot of Lake Valley Estates with low density."

LID members, county staff and the county commissioners adjourned the meeting to The Wheel House at Bergeson's invitation.