BOULDER, Colo. — The owners of 891 12th St. in Boulder, also known as the Ash House, have committed to — within the next couple weeks — address the issues and code violations that recently forced 60 of students out of the building, the City of Boulder said.
The city said it secured an agreement with the property owners that included their commitment to "expedite addressing current life-safety issues and building code violations at the property and restore it to its approved condition within two weeks."
The owners, 891 12th ST, LLC, acknowledged the issues in court on Friday. During that hearing, the judge said the students can return to the house while property owners fix the problems — which city representatives said included the fire alarm system and uninspected electrical and mechanical work — and bring the building up to code.
The City of Boulder shut down the off-campus student housing building, which is on University Hill, on Sept. 16 due to safety violations. Sixty students were forced to collect their belongings and leave the building. The city said the property owner "created additional bedrooms without building permits, land use approval or life-safety inspections after city building inspectors had conducted inspections on previously permitted construction."
The 15 new bedrooms did not meet code and life-safety requirements. Of those 15, 13 were occupied by students.
In a statement, 891 12th ST, LLC called the city's actions "extreme measures" and said they were "surprised and dismayed they (had) been deprived the courtesy of a hearing and/or the due process afforded under City Code.... While the City’s actions are perhaps well intentioned, this has been profoundly poorly handled and is causing unnecessary hardship and disruption to so many students who should be focused on their schooling not being the target of extreme selective enforcement measures. The City could have communicated its concerns with owners and worked toward a resolution. Owners remain open to doing just that."
Brad Mueller, director of the city's Planning & Development Services, called it "an incredibly unfortunate situation" and acknowledged the disruption for the renters.
“However, safety is always first, and the conditions discovered represent an immediate risk," he said. "The building code exists to ensure minimum safety, health and quality of life standards exist for all rental housing. The city determined swift action was needed given the egregious nature of the violations.”
CU Boulder’s Division of Student Affairs helped to support the students and provide resources through Off-Campus Housing and Neighborhood Relations.
Boulder
Judge bars City of Boulder from further enforcing building closure
On Sept. 20, a Boulder County District Court judge said residents can stay at a student building on University Hill while property owners address the violations.
On Thursday, Mueller said the city has been working with the property owners on a resolution.
"Our hope is to make this property safe for the students who are living there as quickly as possible,” he said. “We know this has been a disruptive situation for the students and are committed to doing what we can to work toward a fast resolution with the property owners and bring certainty to tenants.”
The next court hearing on this issue, if needed, is scheduled for Oct. 8, the city said.
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