Viable communities need housing options

When fire destroyed two mobile homes in a Boulder trailer court and damaged two others in June 2016, it underscored what the community had known for years: affordable housing was at a premium.

Calling the blocks of closely placed pre-1976 mobile homes “a ticking time bomb,” Boulder Fire Chief Shane Maichel said the entire area could easily have gone up in flames, jeopardizing lives. It took five area fire departments to keep that from happening.

But when city officials responded with proposed regulatory changes, occupants of the trailer court showed up in droves to protest. The initial proposal called for phasing out the structures older than the 1976 HUD Code within five years and for establishing wider spacing requirements.