With impending new regulations surrounding the wildfire resiliency of land and structures in some areas, some residents of northern Broomfield are worried about the implications for their unique neighborhood.
Instead of the suburban homes and close-quarters neighborhoods across much of Broomfield, the Wilcox area north of 144th Avenue and west of Interstate 25 is characterized by larger, agricultural-zoned pieces of land often populated with horses, goats and other farm animals.
A large area of Wilcox is now classified by the state as a wildland-urban interface zone, or an area where structures and other human development meets or intermingles with wildland or vegetative fuels. The classification is part of a Colorado law passed in 2023 that led to a new wildfire resiliency code — and a board for adopting such rules.
“In the state of Colorado, we have seen some of the most destructive wildfires (of the state’s history) in the last 25 years, and from 2010 to 2020, we saw our residents increase by 750,000,” Carolyn Larsen, administrator for the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, said in a July 21 community meeting hosted by Broomfield officials to discuss the code.
Larsen said many of the new residents coming to the state end up in wildland-urban interface areas, and the law and subsequent wildfire resiliency code were created to help keep Colorado communities safer and more resilient to wildfires.
The resiliency code includes certain requirements for land and structures within interface zones that focus on things like using specific flame-retardant building materials and keeping vegetation distanced from structures.
“It’s not that wildfire mitigation and prevention isn’t important to us — we would do anything to protect not only our family and our land but our neighbors’ and community as well,” Melissa Mossoni, a Wilcox resident, said. “But it feels like we’re on this island for some reason, out of nowhere, and carrying the entire burden of this community.”
According to the state’s wildfire resiliency code map, Wilcox is the largest area in Broomfield — and one of only two areas in that city — classified under “moderate intensity,” making it subject to more of the code’s provisions. Mossoni and residents like her are left wondering why their neighborhood is classified differently from the similar-looking land surrounding it.
Larsen told the Broomfield Enterprise in an email that variations in wildfire fuel type — or vegetation — and topography or slope of the land can affect the way an area is classified. She also said that because the code is a minimum requirement, more accurate mapping can be done by Broomfield officials.
A minimum requirement code means local jurisdictions, including Broomfield, can make their own wildfire resiliency codes and requirements, but they must align with or exceed the state’s regulations. Broomfield will also be responsible for enforcing the local code once it’s created, but some of Wilcox’s residents have a deep distrust of their local representatives and aren’t convinced their neighborhood is in good hands.
“When you look at the mission of this legislation in protecting people, I have to ask, who is protecting us?” Mossoni said. “Historically, we’ve protected each other, whether it was snow plowing or mowing … and we’re always left as the ones mitigating problems.”
Mossoni said city staff has been helpful and supportive of the Wilcox residents in trying to gain a better understanding of the wildfire resiliency code, but with the state continuing to hand down unfunded mandates, local officials are also overwhelmed.
“They’ve put the burden (of this code) on our local governments, and we don’t have the resources,” she said.
‘I’ll believe it when I see it’
Mossoni and her neighbors cited multiple concerns with the code and how it could affect Wilcox, including whether the code can be applied to existing structures. The code is written to apply only to the building of new structures or large changes to structures, including if more than 25% of the surface area of all exterior walls is affected by a renovation or repair.
However, one section of the code, 102.8 — that states existing structures “shall be permitted to continue without change, except … as is deemed necessary by the code official for the general safety and welfare of the occupants and the public” — has Mossoni and her neighbors concerned.
“It’s fairly typical for governmental agencies with the best of intentions to put this stuff out there, and the answers we were given did not match the wording of the legislation,” another Wilcox resident, Cindy David, said. “‘We aren’t going to look at other things,’ they’ve said … well, I’ll believe it when I see it.”
It would be up to Broomfield’s local code official, once one is established, to decide how to enforce that section, but city officials said they don’t plan to apply it to existing structures.
“Broomfield does not have any plans to inspect and require any existing structures to be brought into compliance with the new (code),” Tiffany Hardin, Broomfield’s deputy director of communications, said in an email. “Only structures that are required to get permits will need to comply with the specific sections of the code based on the scope of this new code.”
Another concern of some neighbors was whether being classified as “moderate intensity” will affect their home insurance rates.
Wilcox resident Clare Bruno said she’s worked in the insurance industry and that she’s worried companies will be most concerned about looking out for their own bottom lines.
“Insurance companies are businesses and not always benevolent — they’re kind of out for themselves so they can protect what they have,” Bruno said.
Bruno added that Wilcox residents have been told the map won’t be used for insurance purposes, but “there’s still a map that has orange over my house — how can that not be used by an insurance company?”
“The map does not impact homeowners insurance rates or insurers’ underwriting decisions,” said a spokesperson for Colorado’s Department of Regulatory Agencies, which manages industry regulations including those of home insurance companies. “Homeowners insurance companies use different, more sophisticated tools to assess wildfire risk and determine premium rates and make decisions about where to offer coverage.”
Some neighbors are also concerned about the extra costs associated with building more wildfire-resilient structures that meet the code’s standards, but Larsen said that many of the requirements in the code are already common practice, and that a wildfire-resistant home can be built for about the same cost as a non-hardened home.
Neighbors also worry about the requirements in the code for vegetation and what can be planted near structures and how close that vegetation can be to their homes. Some Wilcox residents have spent decades caring for their land, and undoing that work can be a daunting prospect.
“Some of us have planted every single one of these trees (near our homes) and have nourished them for 40 or 50 years. We’ve worked hard, and we want to keep what we have,” David said.
‘Being watchful’
Residents haven’t been convinced by officials’ reassurances, and even if they turn out to be true, neighbors still take issue with never being informed of the code until it already applied to them.
“The state did zero communication with our neighborhood to make sure we knew what was going on — maybe they assumed Broomfield was communicating with us, but assumptions aren’t a good way to operate,” David said. “By the time we found out about (the code) it was already too late.”
Larsen said the state code board’s meetings are open to the public and that it’s held meetings around the state to receive input on the draft code.
Since October 2023, the board has “worked with community, agency, and government partners to help spread the word about our work and opportunities for engagement,” Larsen said. “Local governing officials, fire and building experts, and members of the public, to name a few, have been active participants in and attendees at our meetings, sessions, and hearings.”
To her knowledge, David said, the only person informing Wilcox residents of the code was Mossoni, who combed through dozens of pages of documents and hours of meetings to put together information for her neighbors.
“Thank God for her,” David said of Mossoni. “We wouldn’t have known any of this without her digging deep into research and being watchful.”
Many of the Wilcox residents are fiercely protective of their community, not only because of its unique character but because many of them have deep roots in the area.
Linda Swain grew up in the Wilcox area long before it was part of Broomfield, and her roots go back even further. Her great grandfather began his homestead on what is now the Spruce Meadows community within the neighborhood, and her father built his Wilcox home in 1947, she said.
“My dad was raising wheat, alfalfa and corn — and we’re still raising wheat as I speak … but times have changed,” Swain said. “While growing up, this was a small farming community, and we’ve been careful not to turn my dad and grandpa’s acreage into high rises or close-knit houses but to keep it rural.”
More change may be coming to Wilcox with the enforcement of the code, but with Broomfield not having local regulations drafted yet, its residents will have to wait and see. The state requires local jurisdictions to have a code in place, but Broomfield is unlikely to meet a deadline.
“While we are committed to moving forward with this process, based on our current assessment of the technical and regulatory requirements involved, we do not anticipate being able to bring this matter before the City Council for consideration prior to the March deadline,” Julie Story, Broomfield’s director of communications, said.
Larsen said “the Board is required to issue an annual report within which it will identify governing bodies that are not in compliance,” but did not specify whether noncompliance comes with specific consequences.
Broomfield is currently conducting a pilot mapping project of the Wilcox area north of 144th Avenue between Zuni Street and Lowell Boulevard and south of 152nd Avenue, Hardin said. The pilot project will allow the city to get a better understanding of the mapping process and ensure its accuracy before expanding outside of the pilot area, according to city staff in the July community meeting. The pilot mapping project is expected to last through the fall, but staff was unsure of an exact timeline.
Mossoni and her neighbors said they’re remaining watchful of the city’s next steps and any further communications from the state, but ultimately, the law and code have already passed, and they aim to focus on protecting Wilcox as best they can.
“This neighborhood is so priceless to me,” Swain said. “It’s a place that’s magical — this place pulls you in and grounds you in a way we want to keep.”
Alice J. Roden started working for Trending Insurance News at the end of 2021. Alice grew up in Salt Lake City, UT. A writer with a vast insurance industry background Alice has help with several of the biggest insurance companies. Before joining Trending Insurance News, Alice briefly worked as a freelance journalist for several radio stations. She covers home, renters and other property insurance stories.