City moves forward on condo plan

Aurora is poised to enact rules that will make it easier for new condominium construction, just in time for the debut of the city’s light rail line next year.

On Wednesday, a city committee moved forward with a proposal to make it more difficult to bring construction defect claims against homebuilders, said Dan Money, an assistant city attorney for Aurora.

Among the proposals sent to the City Council for consideration: a condo builder will have the right to repair any defects before the filing of a lawsuit, homeowners’ associations must have the majority of homeowners agree to file a lawsuit, and the condo builder has the option of offering a monetary settlement instead of pursuing repairs.

For Aurora, the issue is even more pressing because its new light rail line along Interstate 225 will open in 2016.

“We have a huge interest in this because around our transitoriented developments we have developers wanting to build housing,” said Aurora City Councilwoman Marsha Berzins, who is on the Planning and Economic Development committee that forwarded the measure to a study session for consideration.

The state legislature last session tried to address the construction defect issue but could not come to agreement. Several cities, including Lakewood, Lone Tree and Commerce City, have drafted ordinances, and others are considering following suit.

Builders say it is too difficult to get insurance for their construction projects because of laws passed during the past decade that made it easier for owners and homeowners’ associations to bring claims for construction defects.

Since then, condo starts have taken a big hit. In the first quarter of 2014, condos were only 4.6 percent of all new home starts, compared with 26 percent in 2008.