A state mandate requiring local governments to adopt stricter building rules to protect new and remodeled homes against wildfire has sparked varying reactions from elected officials in Ouray County.

The town of Ridgway moved quickly last month to adopt the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code. Ouray city leaders initially rejected and tabled those rules in March, citing concerns after their planning commission didn’t recommend adopting them.

But the Ouray City Council appeared to soften its stance following a presentation from a state fire official on Monday. The council is now scheduled to vote on whether to adopt the wildfire resiliency code next month.

Ouray County officials say they will eventually consider approving the state’s new rules, though the county already has its own wildfire mitigation regulations built into its land use code.

Debates about the requirements are playing out in council and county commission chambers across Colorado this spring as a code implementation dead- line draws near, and as a statewide drought deepens following the worst winter snowpack in Colorado’s recorded history. Snowpack levels in the Gunnison River Basin, which includes Ouray County, peaked in early March, a month earlier than normal.

Gov. Jared Polis warned last week of a “significantly increased risk” of wildfire along the Front Range and in western Colorado this summer. As of April 30, the entire state was considered to be in at least moderate drought. The northern half of Ouray County is in moderate drought, while the southern half is in severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Most of Ouray County classified moderate- or high-risk

Adopted by state lawmakers in 2023, the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code creates baseline wildfire mitigation standards for newly constructed buildings or remodels of a certain scale in the wildland-urban interface. The wildland- urban interface is defined as areas where homes and infrastructure meet wild vegetation.

The new state rules create two types of building standards, one that is less strict and one that is more strict, which depend on a map included in the code.

That map looks at the “intensity” of wildfire in areas located in the wildland- urban interface. According to the map, both Ridgway and Ouray would be held to the same, stricter standard.

The entirety of Ridgway is designated as “moderate intensity.” Ouray is split between “moderate intensity” and “high intensity.”

“Low intensity” areas must abide by less strict Class 1 standards, whereas “moderate intensity” and “high intensity” areas must abide by both Class 1 standards and stricter Class 2 standards.

The code is triggered by building permits for new construction and certain exterior modifications. It doesn’t apply retroactively to existing structures. And some exemptions apply, including for smaller, nonhabitable accessory structures.

The regulations are divided into two primary components: structure hardening, which governs building materials and design, and site and area requirements, which address defensible space and vegetation management.

Jurisdictions are allowed to create their own map when adopting the rules if they don’t agree with the state map, which can be approved by the state’s Wildfire Resiliency Code Board. And they are allowed to create their own rules that can be more stringent than the state’s rules. But they can’t be less strict.

How Ridgway, Ouray responded

The Ridgway Town Council unanimously approved the new building rules during an April 8 meeting.

“Hopefully as this gets adopted throughout the state we see fewer losses and more insurance available,” Mayor Pro Tem Beth Lakin said at the meeting.

After the Ouray Planning Commission recommended rejecting the state rules, the Ouray City Council in early March looked like it was going to follow suit.

At that meeting, Community Development Director Dan Murphy recommended adopting the statewide code, going against the planning commission’s decision.

Mayor Michael Underwood opened the discussion by saying he thought the intent of the statewide code was good, but said, “I am more of an independent thinker and thinking that our city can take care of its own business without having a statewide broad brush come in and tell us how we are supposed to do things.”

He also said he didn’t find the statewide code persuasive, and that he didn’t think it would necessarily lessen fire danger in Ouray. He called it an unfunded mandate.

“We can handle our fire mitigation here locally better than we can respond to a mandate from the state,” he said, receiving applause from the audience.

“I am currently building and I don’t want someone telling me I can’t do something … and if I want wood siding, that is up to me,” said Councilor Peggy Lindsey Scott, calling the requirement for municipalities to adopt the statewide code “government overreach” and receiving more applause.

Councilor Jenny Hart advocated for adopting the code.

“I think our community needs more emphasis on hardening our homes, and I think this is one way of doing it,” she said.

Mayor Pro Tem Kevin Schiffer said there was a lot of confusion about the proposed rules and referred to the “hastiness” of the legislation and its deadline for adoption. He said he would be more comfortable postponing action, characterizing his position as “not yet,” not “no.”

The majority of the council voted to table the item until Sept. 8.

But during Monday’s council meeting, Hart again advocated for adopting the statewide code and pushed for the council to vote on it sooner. The council is expected to make a decision on June 15.

Lindsey Scott said she wants to take local residents’ temperature on the issue through an online survey.

“I do believe the public should have their input on this,” she said.

The brief discussion occurred near the conclusion of a meeting that started with a presentation from Aaron Johnson, a wildland-urban interface professional development educator with the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. Johnson, a former chief operating officer for the West Region Wildfire Council, provided an overview of the code and sought to clear up confusing aspects or misconceptions of it.

Johnson noted the resiliency code was developed on the heels of the 2021 Marshall Fire in Boulder County, which killed two people, burned more than 6,000 acres and wiped out more than 1,000 structures, making it the most destructive fire in the state’s history.

Johnson claimed the vast majority of structure ignitions from wildfires are caused by embers, which can blow off wooden shake roofs or settle in excessive roof vents.

With the Marshall Fire, he said, fences acted like wicks, carrying flames from home to home.

“Once a structure goes, especially in a closed group community, we start seeing easy structure-to-structure ignition, and it overwhelms (firefighters’) response,” Johnson said.

Concerns about costs

One of the most common concerns that has grown out of the state mandate is that it will make building costs more expensive.

Johnson said a state study attempting to answer that question is underway. He pointed to a California-based study conducted last year by Headwaters Economics, a Montana research institute, that concluded the cost of building new homes to high wildfire-resistant standards is only 2-3% more than traditional construction.

That generated several laughs and scoffs from attendees at Monday’s Ouray council meeting.

Ridgway Senior Planner Angie Kemp said she hadn’t heard concerns from builders about the cost of the new wildfire code. Builders are primarily concerned with a separate set of new building codes that focus on energy efficiency and lowering carbon emissions, which Ridgway town councilors also adopted at the April 8 meeting, she said.

However, officials in other places have cited concerns with the rules, especially the “intensity” map, and are delaying or refusing to adopt the rules altogether.

Local governments can create their own map to be approved by the Wildfire Resiliency Code Board. But many jurisdictions are saying they haven’t had enough time to create a map from scratch on the state’s deadline, according to Kevin Bommer, executive director of the Colorado Municipal League.

Because the new rules are considered an unfunded mandate, jurisdictions shouldn’t face penalties for not adopting the rules on the state’s timeline, according to Bommer.

Ouray County isn’t rushing to update its rules because of that, according to County Attorney Leo Caselli. The county also already has its own wildfire building regulations built into its land use code.

Johnson said some parts of the county’s wildfire mitigation rules are more strict than the state’s, while others are less strict.

What if jurisdictions don’t comply?

A bill that would have delayed local government adoptions of the state wildfire code for a year died in the House last month, so Colorado counties and municipalities remain on the clock this year. Jurisdictions were required to formally adopt the code by April 1 and must implement it beginning July 1.

So what happens next? Johnson said the Wildfire Resiliency Code Board will publish a list of local governments that have approved the code in September. That list will be accessible to the public and entities like insurance companies and mortgage lenders.

“What this list is going to be used for, we can’t say,” Johnson said.

Ouray resident Bruce Ward asked whether jurisdictions will lose out on federal and state wildfire mitigation grants if they don’t adopt and enforce the code.

Johnson didn’t directly answer that question, but said he thinks that will be discussed once the list is published.

Some residents urge adoption

At the meeting this week, Ouray resident Phylis Fagrelius told councilors her parents lived through the 2020 East Troublesome Fire in north-central Colorado, the second-largest wildfire in the state’s history.

Prior to that fire, she said officials encouraged residents to harden their homes and properties against wildfire and met resistance from some people who were concerned about cutting down trees.

“They’re gone,” Fagrelius said of the trees, “so it didn’t matter if they cut them down or not.”

She encouraged the council to adopt the state wildfire code.

“Whatever we can do to make sure our community is safe or safer from devastating fires, I’m going to ask you to consider that,” she said.

Ouray resident and former Councilor Tamara Gulde urged the council to reconsider its prior hesitation and approve the code. She noted some homeowners have lost insurance coverage due to high fire risk.

“Let other communities fight this, but let us move forward on this and show we really do care for our community,” she said.