Late in 2020, Boulder County proposed building a new compost facility at the old Rainbow Nursery just outside of Longmont. The land currently belongs to the county, however, neighbors quickly squashed the county’s plans.
Boulder County proposed building a $7 million compost facility in an effort to localize composting — the nearest composting facility is 50 miles away in Keensburg — and to use the local compost to help area agricultural farms.
Dan Matsch, head of Eco-Cycle’s Compost Department, said the composting facility fits in well with the agricultural setting of the former tree farm and will be designed for a semi-urban setting.
Environmentally, the plant will make a huge difference in the county’s effort to combat greenhouse gases, Matsch said.
Landowners surrounding the old Rainbow Nusery filed a lawsuit against Boulder County claiming the land was bought with the understanding that the $170,000 purchase would be used as agricultural land.
The landowners claimed in the lawsuit that the county changed the development plan to allow for the compost facility to be built.
The legal battle halted the county’s plans to move forward with the compost facility.
In February, the Longmont City Council issued a letter to the county supporting the building of a compost facility within the county but did not endorse it being constructed just outside of the city.
At the same time, Erie trustees withdrew their support because the county did not send someone to talk to their city about it. The county claimed the project being on hold as the reason for its absence and apologized for the oversight.
By late February, the county withdrew its plans to build the industrial compost facility at the site of the former Rainbow Nursery.
“After careful consideration of projected costs and associated engineering constraints, presentations by staff (including a staff memo), and their own review of the proposed project, the county commissioners agreed with the staff recommendation to withdraw the application for special use review of the former Rainbow Tree Nursery,” a county news release states. “They further directed staff to continue to look for opportunities to support the county's waste diversion and climate action goals, including composting solutions, and to seek public input along the way.”
However, this did not immediately prompt some of the local landowners to drop their lawsuits.
Rob O’Dea, spokesperson for Protect Rainbow Open Space, said the crux of the issue lies in maintaining the integrity of open spaces and conservation easements, which is the subject of a lawsuit filed by three landowners.
“I think we’re encouraged they took a step back to give an opportunity for the two new commissioners to understand all of the issues at play,” O’Dea said referencing Commissioners Marta Loachamin and Claire Levy, who took office in January after being elected in November. “Frankly, I’m disheartened that commissioners didn’t even acknowledge or take the opportunity to address the pending legal action (which is based on) preserving the integrity of open spaces and conservation easements.”
All the lawsuits were later dismissed by a district judge.
“In both cases, the court determined that litigation over something that is no longer being planned was a not a good use of judicial resources,” County spokesperson Barb Halpin, said. “The county’s hope is that we can move forward in finding composting solutions that are compatible with the community and still get us closer to our Zero Waste goals.”
By April, the Longmont City Council offered its support to help the county find a new location for the plant.
In August, the county hired Noah Eisenman for the newly created Zero Waste Strategic Advisor position to help manage the research and development of potential composting and construction and demolition (C&D) waste solutions.
One of Eisenman’s primary tasks is to determine the best path forward for a county-wide composting facility, according to a Boulder County news release