Department of Community Development
Reference: Upcoming Adoption of the State Mandated Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code
To: Mayor Gregory Mills and Members of the City Council
Through: Michael P. Martinez, City Manager
Prepared By: Andrew Ulmer, Chief Building Official
Date Prepared: January 15, 2025
PURPOSE
The purpose of this General Business item is to update the City Council on recent state laws regarding the City of Brighton’s adoption of the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code. Further details regarding the actual code requirements, particularly where, and to what structures it will apply, and the site and building standards that will be impacted by the code, will be presented at future City Council meetings.
BACKGROUND
In 2023, Senate Bill 23-166 was enacted into law, which required the establishment of a Wildfire Resiliency Code Board and for that Board to adopt model codes requiring governing bodies i.e., the City Council with jurisdiction in areas within the Wildland-Urban Interface to adopt the code, or standards exceeding the code. Then, in 2025, Senate Bill 25-142 was enacted into law and this bill required governing bodies to adopt the code within nine months of the Board’s adoption of the code, which the Board adopted on June 1, 2025.
Therefore, the City is required to adopt the code by April 1, 2026 and begin implementing the provisions of the code beginning July 1, 2026. This new code will primarily only impact new structures in a relatively small amount of area within city limits (refer to attached PowerPoint for maps delineating these areas). Within those areas there are two-tiered risk levels that apply to Brighton (Class 1 - Low Intensity, shown in yellow and Class 2 - Moderate Intensity, shown in orange). Note: This code will not impact existing structures unless they are undergoing a significant modification. As previously noted, staff is preparing this item for a more thorough review and analysis at future City Council meetings.
TENTATIVE MEETING SCHEDULE
As this is a model code, the procedure for adoption of a code by reference is governed by the state statutes CRS 31-16-201 et seq. Therefore, an introduction of the ordinance and a date establishing the public hearing is tentatively scheduled for February 17th. After this, public notice must be published twice in a local newspaper, with one notice at least 15 days before the hearing and the second at least 8 days before. In order to allow for proper public notice, the public hearing and second reading of the ordinance is tentatively set for March 17th.
ATTACHMENT
● Draft PowerPoint Presentation