In a legal dispute between the City of Boulder and the owner of the Ash House, a student apartment building on University Hill, a district court judge appeared to side with the one party not named in the legal conflict but caught in the crosshairs: the students.
On Friday, Sept. 20, Boulder County District Court Judge Chris Larson upheld a temporary restraining order preventing the city from evacuating students from the Ash House, a building the city deemed unsafe after a code compliance official discovered the property owner had added rooms without permits.
The property owner, 891 12th St LLC, installed new walls and doors in 13 of the 16 units in the apartment building without obtaining building permits. Students told Boulder Reporting Lab that three-bedroom units were converted into four, and some paying renters were kept off the lease. The city determined the added walls posed a safety risk, as they interfered with fire sprinklers, smoke alarms and ventilation systems. Two rooms had no egress, though it’s unclear if they were used as bedrooms. The renovations also included unpermitted electrical work, which city officials said could potentially create a fire hazard.
On Sept. 16, the city ordered approximately 60 students to vacate the building, citing concerns over safety. Students were given only a few hours to leave and the city did not provide alternative housing arrangements. Several said they slept on friends’ couches or booked hotel rooms.
In response to the complex being shut down, the property owner filed a complaint against the city, arguing that the city had not followed the proper legal process and had not explained why the students were in such urgent danger that they had to abruptly leave. The judge then issued a restraining order, temporarily halting the city’s effort to enforce the notices to vacate.
The city sought to have this restraining order lifted. However, on Friday, Sept. 20, Judge Larson denied that request, finding that the city had not included the required information in its notices to residents detailing the “imminent” danger posed by the building.
Central to the judge’s decision was an apparent concern that the city had not arranged accommodations for the displaced students, which could have posed a greater risk to their safety by leaving them with nowhere to go, he suggested.
“What provisions were made to accommodate the residents of the building that needed to evacuate?” Larson asked during the hearing on Sept. 20.
“They were advised to contact CU Off-campus Housing,” Luis Toro, a lawyer representing the City of Boulder, replied.
“So you gave them a phone number?” Larson said.
He then asked if the city considered the harm it caused by leaving the students without a place to stay.
“We think that the balance of harms favors the evacuation because of the life safety issues,” Toro replied.
“And where do they go?” the judge asked.
Despite the judge’s concerns about the well-being of the students, the city and the property owner did not reach an agreement during the hearing on how to provide them safe accommodation.
Toro argued the building is unsafe and that the property owner is responsible for placing the students in hotels.
The property owner agreed to restore the building to its permitted condition by removing rooms “as fast as humanly possible,” or in approximately two weeks, Andrew Peters, a lawyer for a Denver-based firm, told the judge. But Peters said the property owner believes the building does not pose an imminent danger to the tenants. And he said construction could proceed while students remain living there by rotating them between rooms, as some rooms are unoccupied after several tenants terminated their leases.
In light of the ongoing dispute, Judge Larson scheduled another hearing for 9 a.m. on Oct. 8. Until then, students will be permitted to remain in their apartments, assuming the city does not file another notice for tenants to vacate. The property owner is expected to begin demolishing the unauthorized bedrooms.
This reminds of other predatory landholders who violated building norms many years ago on E campus, so apparently the precedent was not set. John Kirkland had already set up the residents and community trying to buy Marpa by posing to help them, and instead using the information he got from them to outbid their offer. Now Naropa main campus itself is being sold off.
Whoa! That guy is in the wrong job in the wrong city! Force students out with no support and no place to go? With “a few hours notice”? Time for a transfer to a position more suited to his personality—perhaps sewer inspector?
As a parent, I am appalled at the lack of concern for the safety and well being of these young people–many of whom may have been away from home for the first time. As well as the city’s apparent lack of concern when its staff was informed of this total lack of concern.