Late last month, we told you about an important bill introduced in the Colorado General Assembly.  The bill had passed in the Colorado House of Representatives, and was headed for the Senate.  It was drafted to address the sharp decrease in condominium construction in this state, caused by developers’ fear of construction defect claims brought by condominium homeowners’ associations.  A description of the bill can be found in our original client alert here.

An update:  The bill has become law.  The Senate passed HB 1279 on May 4, and sent it to the Governor’s desk for signature.  Governor Hickenlooper signed it Tuesday, May 23, amid celebration from legislators and reform advocates.  As we noted last month, the bill “is not a complete ‘fix’ for the condominium construction issues, if such a fix even exists,” but it is widely considered a good first step.

Last week, the Colorado Senate passed a bipartisan bill—House Bill 1375—requiring school districts to either develop a plan by the 2019-2010 academic year to equitably share mill levy override funds with charter schools of their districts or to distribute 95% of the per pupil amount of the revenue to those charter schools.  The bill further requires charter schools to post certain tax documents on their websites and to limit their financial waivers. Continue Reading “First of its Kind” Colorado Charter School Funding Bill Headed to Governor for Signature

In our April Client Alert, we reported on a possible breakthrough in construction defect reform legislation, which had passed the House and was moving to the Senate.  The Colorado Senate has now unanimously approved House Bill 1279, and sent it to Governor Hickenlooper, who is expected to sign the bill.  HB 1279 was one of six bills introduced this year in an effort to address the dearth of condominium construction in Denver.  It is the only bill to reach the Governor’s desk, and the first bill in four years of effort to make substantive changes to the existing construction defect law in Colorado.

In Denver on Wednesday, a federal court ruled for the first time that refusing to rent a dwelling to someone because the prospective renter does not conform to gender stereotype norms (e.g., because a person dresses or acts in a way, or is attracted to, married to, and/or has children with someone, that does not conform with stereotype norms associated with that person’s biological gender) constitutes sex discrimination under the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”). Continue Reading Denver Federal Court Rules Gender Stereotyping Violates Fair Housing Act

Many of the residents selected for the Beloved Community Village have had issues getting into Denver’s shelters—there are a few couples who want to live together, a transgender person, a person in a wheelchair, and Sandra Herman, who has pets. Credit: Westword
Many of the residents selected for the Beloved Community Village have had issues getting into Denver’s shelters—there are a few couples who want to live together, a transgender person, a person in a wheelchair, and Sandra Herman, who has pets. Credit: Westword

Earlier this week, Denver approved a temporary zoning permit for a tiny-house community for homeless people, the “Beloved Community Village.” The community will include eleven 8-foot by 12-foot shelters, as well as shared kitchen and bathroom facilities, constructed for about $130,000 on Urban Land Conservancy-owned property at 38th and Walnut Streets in the RiNo neighborhood. Continue Reading Local Governments Making Room for Tiny Homes