Good Morning, Colorado, and welcome to the Daily Sun-Up. It’s Tuesday January 19th, and we’re feeling lucky to start the day with you. Join us daily for an in-depth look at one of our top stories. 

Today - When Colorado lawmakers turned their attention to mobile home parks over the last two sessions for the first time in decades, one particular bill inspired some residents to start thinking big.

Before we begin, let’s take a look at what happened on this day in Colorado history - adapted from Derek R Everett’s book “Colorado Day by Day”:

Today, we take you back to January 19th, 1948 when, after nearly a quarter century of economic prosperity, a fire destroyed what had been the most productive lumber mill in Colorado. The mill site and the town that surrounded it now sit at the bottom of McPhee Reservoir.

Now, our feature story. 

When Colorado lawmakers turned their attention to mobile home parks over the last two sessions, one particular bill inspired some residents to start thinking big -- beyond the chronic battles with park owners over rising rents and questionable evictions.

A new provision in the Mobile Home Park Act, which went into effect in June, gave individuals the opportunity to purchase the property where they’ve parked their trailers. It also gave them the opportunity to start calling their own shots as a cooperative. 

Now, some are seizing that opportunity, banding together and taking steps toward purchases aimed at preserving a lifestyle that represents the state’s largest non-subsidized affordable housing option for more than 100,000 Coloradans.

But a process that can be difficult is even more fraught in the age of coronavirus.

Colorado Sun reporter Kevin Simpson is joining us today to tell us more.

So Kevin, can you start by explaining why lawmakers decided to tackle the issue of residents buying their mobile home parks in the first place?                              

Colorado’s legal provision requires that a park owner, if they anticipate selling the property or changing the use of the land, give notice to residents, who then have 90 days to make an offer and secure financing. For residents, the first step is typically creating an association or cooperative that represents more than half of the home owners, which is required in order to make the purchase.

Park owners must file an affidavit of compliance with the appropriate local agencies.

So, residents operate within two key parameters: the 90-day window to take care of due diligence and financing; and, of course, the assurance that the park owner will negotiate in good faith.

The latter could eventually require a court decision for fine-tuning.

Thanks for listening. Before we go here are a few stories you should know about today:

Just two weeks after she was sworn in, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert may already have challengers in the 2022 election. State Democratic lawmakers Kerry Donovan and Dylan Roberts told The Colorado Sun they are considering a run against the highly contentious Republican to represent the state's third Congressional District. The district leans Republican, but the largest voting bloc is unaffiliated.

A third Colorado man has been charged in relation to the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol. Robert Gieswein, a 24-year old Woodland Park resident, has six federal charges pending, including assaulting a federal officer. Federal court documents tie Gieswein to the Three Percenters, a radical militia group.

More than three thousand tires are thrown out in Colorado every day. Most of those were recycled, but hundreds of thousands couldn’t be repurposed. And a massive fire at a tire dump north of Denver last summer illuminated the painful environmental tension over a consumer product everybody needs now and no one wants later. 

For more information on all of these stories, visit our website, www.coloradosun.com. Now, a quick message from our editor.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Good Morning, Colorado, and welcome to the Daily Sun-Up. It&rsquo;s Tuesday January 19th, and we&rsquo;re feeling lucky to start the day with you. Join us daily for an in-depth look at one of our top stories.&nbsp;
Today - When Colorado lawmakers turned their attention to mobile home parks over the last two sessions for the first time in decades, one particular bill inspired some residents to start thinking big.
Before we begin, let&rsquo;s take a look at what happened on this day in Colorado history - adapted from Derek R Everett&rsquo;s book &ldquo;Colorado Day by Day&rdquo;:
Today, we take you back to January 19th, 1948 when, after nearly a quarter century of economic prosperity, a fire destroyed what had been the most productive lumber mill in Colorado. The mill site and the town that surrounded it now sit at the bottom of McPhee Reservoir.
Now, our feature story.&nbsp;
When Colorado lawmakers turned their attention to mobile home parks over the last two sessions, one particular bill inspired some residents to start thinking big -- beyond the chronic battles with park owners over rising rents and questionable evictions.
A new provision in the Mobile Home Park Act, which went into effect in June, gave individuals the opportunity to purchase the property where they&rsquo;ve parked their trailers. It also gave them the opportunity to start calling their own shots as a cooperative.&nbsp;
Now, some are seizing that opportunity, banding together and taking steps toward purchases aimed at preserving a lifestyle that represents the state&rsquo;s largest non-subsidized affordable housing option for more than 100,000 Coloradans.
But a process that can be difficult is even more fraught in the age of coronavirus.
Colorado Sun reporter Kevin Simpson is joining us today to tell us more.
So Kevin, can you start by explaining why lawmakers decided to tackle the issue of residents buying their mobile home parks in the first place?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Colorado&rsquo;s legal provision requires that a park owner, if they anticipate selling the property or changing the use of the land, give notice to residents, who then have 90 days to make an offer and secure financing. For residents, the first step is typically creating an association or cooperative that represents more than half of the home owners, which is required in order to make the purchase.
Park owners must file an affidavit of compliance with the appropriate local agencies.
So, residents operate within two key parameters: the 90-day window to take care of due diligence and financing; and, of course, the assurance that the park owner will negotiate in good faith.
The latter could eventually require a court decision for fine-tuning.
Thanks for listening. Before we go here are a few stories you should know about today:
Just two weeks after she was sworn in, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert may already have challengers in the 2022 election. State Democratic lawmakers Kerry Donovan and Dylan Roberts told The Colorado Sun they are considering a run against the highly contentious Republican to represent the state's third Congressional District. The district leans Republican, but the largest voting bloc is unaffiliated.
A third Colorado man has been charged in relation to the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol. Robert Gieswein, a 24-year old Woodland Park resident, has six federal charges pending, including assaulting a federal officer. Federal court documents tie Gieswein to the Three Percenters, a radical militia group.
More than three thousand tires are thrown out in Colorado every day. Most of those were recycled, but hundreds of thousands couldn&rsquo;t be repurposed. And a massive fire at a tire dump north of Denver last summer illuminated the painful environmental tension over a consumer product everybody needs now and no one wants later.&nbsp;
For more information on all of these stories, visit our website,<a href="http://www.coloradosun.com/"> www.coloradosun.com</a>. Now, a quick message from our editor.See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Welcome to The Colorado Sun's daily podcast, The Daily Sun-Up. Every day we’re sharing an in-depth look at one of our top stories, followed by a quick summary of important things happening in our state. For more visit us at https://coloradosun.com/.

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