Boulder County open space staff members are recommending new owners for 14 of the 16 residential flood buyout properties first offered up for grabs in May, with most recommended to go to nearby neighbors.

The county received 228 applications for the properties, which the county bought after they were damaged in the September 2013 flood through disaster recovery grant programs provided by HUD — the federal Housing and Urban Development Agency — and FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Both programs require the land to be returned to its natural state and kept that way.

The Boulder County commissioners are set to vote on the recommendations Tuesday during a 9:30 a.m. hearing at the Boulder County Courthouse, 1325 Pearl St., Boulder. The hearing includes an opportunity for public comment.

While the 10 HUD properties are available to anyone, FEMA restrictions require the other six properties to go to state agencies, Indian Tribal governments, municipal local governments or qualified conservation organizations. Thirty-nine applicants were disqualified because they didn’t meet FEMA requirements.

The county also decided to keep two of the FEMA properties: 8531 N. Foothills Highway, which may be needed for the North Foothills Bikeway project, and 639 James Canyon Road, which had its applicant withdraw.

If the county commissioners approve the four FEMA-recommended new owners on Tuesday, FEMA will still need to sign off before the properties can be officially transferred. FEMA officials have not provided a timeline for a decision.

Generally, the properties are in small, rural areas and range from less than an acre to about 5 acres. Five of the properties are in the Lyons area, eight are in the Boulder foothills and three are in the Longmont area. The properties, which had their existing structures razed, can’t ever be developed. While the properties are free, the new owners must maintain the land and pay property taxes.

Janis Whisman, Boulder County Parks and Open Space real estate division manager, said the county used multiple criteria to review the applications, including if applicants will use the property in ways that are compatible with the federal deed restrictions and have the intention and capacity to steward the property well. Additionally, the county is looking for plans that are most suitable for the property and will meet county goals around sustainability and inclusion.

“We have run as fair a process as we possibly can to do what’s best for these properties,” she said. “It was as objective as possible.”

She added that while living on a neighboring property wasn’t a requirement, living nearby meant applicants would be available to steward the property — and several neighbors were already helping care for the properties in question. In some cases, giving the properties to neighbors also allowed the county to solve issues that included waterline access, potential trespassing to reach a creek and shared easements.

Three of the FEMA properties, plus one HUD property, are recommended to go to Boulder-based Apache Nation of Colorado. The nonprofit organization was deemed the only qualified applicant for the three FEMA properties and was one of 11 qualified applicants for the HUD property.

The four properties are 496 Riverside Drive in the Lyons area, 16679 N. St. Vrain Drive in the Lyons area, 142 Canon Park in the Boulder area and 4389 Fourmile Canyon Drive in the Boulder area.

David Young, who runs the nonprofit, said owning land is the main goal.

“As Native people, we still reside on our own land, but we don’t own it anymore,” he said. “It’s all been stolen from us. To go into a place and say, ‘this is ours and we have the right to be here without your intrusion’ is important to us.”

While the land may be used for ceremonies, he added, there are no plans to build on or alter the properties.

“For us, ceremony is as simple as sitting in nature and communing in nature,” he said. “Some of these places offer that opportunity. The land is just fine the way it is. Having the land is enough. It’s to provide us a safe retreat.”

The recommended owner for the most-wanted HUD property, a 1-acre site at 7847 73rd St. in the Niwot area with 25 applicants, is neighboring owner and wildlife photographer Gerhard Assenmacher. His plans are to “use the property just as I use mine — wildlife viewing, put up nesting boxes, etc.,” according to his application.

Other applicants for the property, which is next to Left Hand Creek, wanted to use it for fly fishing, to host nature therapy sessions, as an apple orchard and as a bee sanctuary.

Assenmacher, who emigrated to the United States at 18 and has lived on 73rd Street with his wife for 20 years, said the only way to access the creek is by going through his adjacent property, leaving his property vulnerable to trespassers. Conveying the property to him eliminates that potential problem.

As he walked through the lightly wooded property on a recent day, he pointed out trees that died because of standing water during the flood that need to be removed, wood piles to be burned with help from the fire agency and locations for nesting boxes he can use for his photography.

“I want it to be wild,” he said.

Another popular property, 15626 N. 83rd St. near Longmont, had 20 applications, including four from neighboring property owners.

The neighboring owners proposed using the land to grow hay, to provide space for an autistic child who loves nature, for regenerative agriculture and to maintain it as open space. But the recommended new owner is from outside the neighborhood, a Native American organization based in Boulder called Harvest of All First Nations. The organization was founded in 2022.

According to the application, the organization seeks to build community through reconnection with Indigenous and ancestral teachings but has been limited in its programming because of a lack of land.

The organization plans to use the land for ceremonial activities, healing practice events and cultural gatherings. If approved to work within the restrictions on the use of the land, there’s also a plan to add a community garden and a small stone structure for healing ceremonies.

“We have a network of community members ready to contribute to the upkeep and maintenance of the land, as it is mutually beneficial and reciprocal for their own healing and food sovereignty for the community,” according to the application. “We are an adaptable community that can work within the restrictions outlined, using rain barrels, compost outhouses, and pigs to produce regenerative agriculture methods that will be mutually beneficial for the entire ecosystem.”

The recommended new owner for the FEMA buyout property down the street, at 15623 N. 83rd, is the Center for Snake Conservation. The nonprofit organization runs My Nature Lab in Louisville.

The goal, according to the organization’s application, is to manage the property to provide habitat for plains hognose snakes and ornate box turtles, both of which have been identified by the organization in nearby areas. While working to restore the habitat, the organization plans to involve homeschool high school students and volunteers.

“The most valuable thing on this planet is vacant land with nothing on it,” said Cameron Young, executive director of the Center for Snake Conservation and My Nature Lab. “We want to show people what a little piece of reptile heaven looks like. Even if we can’t find the rare species there, keeping the common species common is incredibly important. This is just a super exciting opportunity.”

The HUD property with the fewest applications was 43 Crisman, a .21 of an acre parcel off Fourmile Canyon Drive. The nine applicants included two neighboring property owners, who both proposed maintaining the site in its natural state.

One of the two neighbors, Rachel Tracy, is recommended to become the new owner. Tracy has lived on Crisman for seven years and co-owns the two properties that connect to 43 Crisman. According to her application, she’s a meditation coach, healer, permaculture student and master gardener.

“I have been working with the open space folks since 2017 tending this land, handpicking the invasive wild medicinal plants to keep the space pesticide free and allowing the native species to regrow,” she wrote in an email. “It is right next to my home and will become part of the land I tend and steward. I believe we are a part of nature and I honor the land as a teacher. It’s a gift to continue caring for this land and its health.”

She has a well approved for agricultural use that could be accessed from the property and plans to plant a small garden for food or medicinal plants.

“We would keep this little piece of land open to our neighbors,” she wrote in her application. “Many of them have lived here for over 50 years, some 85 years. So we would keep access open to everyone who lived here.”

The St. Vrain Estates Property Owners’ Association, which represents three households that own four properties around Longmont Dam Road in the Lyons area, is recommended for the parcels at 35 and 37 Longmont Dam Road.

One of the properties borders HOA land that’s used as common space, while the three properties together encompass about 500 feet of river frontage along the North St. Vrain Creek.

The 37 Longmont Dam Road site also is a designated helicopter landing site in emergencies, HOA representative and neighbor Ken Feldman said, and the properties provide access to the creek for wildlife.

“Our collective priority as a neighborhood is to preserve and improve these parcels as natural areas, especially as they are river frontage,” he said.

The remaining four HUD properties — 1105 North Cedar Brook Road, 459 Gold Run Road, 5008 Fourmile Canyon Drive and 507 Riverside Drive — all are slated to go to owners of neighboring properties who propose maintaining them in their natural state.

Karen Bowen, who is recommended for the .67-acre parcel at 5008 Fourmile Canyon Drive, said the property belonged to dear friends, whose home was destroyed by a mudslide during the floods. She said she and other neighbors spent many hours helping them dig it out, in hopes the home could be saved.

“It’s an emotionally loaded location,” she said.

A waterline that carries well water to her current property also is located on the flood buyout property, she said, requiring her to access the property when repairs are needed.

“I have dug up that property more times than I can count to repair the waterline,” she said. “Owning the property is a way to safeguard that critical resource for our home.”

Her plans for the land are limited to planting trees and potentially raspberries or other food sources for wildlife.

“We’re there pretty frequently, so it’s easy to keep an eye on it,” she said. “We have informally been stewards of that property for many years now.”