Marshall Fire Victims Say They Will Lose What Little They Have Left If Superior Adopts New Green Building Code
UPDATE: Superior Allows Marshall Fire Victims To Build At 2018 Codes
SUPERIOR, Colo. (CBS4)- Superior residents are begging their Board of Trustees to table a new green building code that would add thousands of dollars to the cost of rebuilding. In the aftermath of the Marshall Fire, the Board initially did table the new code but after pressure and promises of money from the state and Xcel, it is once again on the table.
Fire victims aren't the only ones in disbelief.
At a meeting two weeks ago, Trustee Neal Shah lost it on his colleagues, "The thing that every homeowner is drilling into us is all this f---ing uncertainty and I apologize about my language. It's driving me crazy."
Shah wondered how the board could consider a new green building code after the Marshall Fire destroyed 400 homes in town. Homeowners wondered the same thing.
"Fifty-eight years and I lost everything. Why make it so hard for us?" one homeowner asked as tears rolled down her face.
Another homeowner warned, "You put a new green energy deal on it and it's going to wipe a lot of people out and they'll have to sell."
And yet another resident said, "Now is not time to impede the building and rebuilding of our community by grossly adjusting codes."
The board assured fire victims if it did adopt a new code, it wouldn't apply to them. It would apply only to the 400 new homes going up over the next two years.
Some trustees hope by adopting the new code for new homes, they'll be eligible for a $7,500 Xcel rebate.
Shah says a two-track code may only add to what is already a complex job for builders and the town's building department, which has only one employee.
"I think builders want clarity and they want consistency and this doesn't do that," said Shah.
He says Xcel has made it clear, if there is a rebate - and the company won't know for another year - no one will get it unless everyone meets the new code, "Xcel is a publicly-traded company. If they want it out of the goodness of their hearts to help our homeowners rebuild, they could do that yesterday."
Shah says trustees will likely help by waiving sales and use taxes for fire victims, but he says with 80% of them underinsured, it won't be enough, "One in seven homeowners lost their home and unless some other organizations in our state step up with some real money, we're going to lose our community."
Louisville adopted a green building code before the fire and city council members say it will add $20,000 to the cost of rebuilding but Louisville's code is far more stringent than the one Superior is considering.