City of Boulder directs student apartment complex owners to fix code violations in next 2 weeks
Boulder officials shut the building down, evicting tenants, with only hours notice Sept. 16.
On Thursday, the City of Boulder reached an agreement with property owners for the Ash House, 891 12th St., Boulder, a student apartment complex that was recently evacuated due to building code violations.
The agreement comes almost two weeks after the city issued a notice of closure to the Ash House, saying the property owners — 891 12th St LLC, owned by C.J. Chapman, according to Secretary of State records — created additional bedrooms without city approval or the proper permits.
The 15 new bedrooms were constructed without building permits, land approval or life-safety inspections, according to a news release from the City of Boulder. The property owners allegedly constructed the bedrooms immediately after inspectors completed inspections on permitted construction.
Boulder City officials provided the owners a four-hour notice that they were forcing residents out of the apartments, attorneys for the property owner said on Monday, Sept. 16.
A court order from the Boulder County District Court temporarily stopped the notice of closure, noting that the city did not provide enough advance notice and residents only had a few hours to comply before dark.
On Thursday, city officials announced in a news release that they reached an agreement with the Ash House owners, which includes a commitment from the owners to “expedite addressing current life-safety issues and building code violations” and “restore it to its approved condition within two weeks.”
The building owner acknowledged the life-safety issues and building violations at a court hearing Friday, according to the release.
If necessary, another court hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on Oct. 8 in Boulder County District Court.
City officials have “proactively” worked to reach the resolution with the building owners, they stated in Thursday’s news release.
“Our hope is to make this property safe for the students who are living there as quickly as possible,” Brad Mueller, Boulder’s planning and development services director, said in the release. “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.”
