Trinidad council approves new building codes, delays electric-ready rules

Trinidad City Council moved to shore up fire protection and tighten building rules on June 16, approving about $311,000 for a used aerial ladder truck while also adopting the 2024 International Building Codes. The package included the International Wildland Urban Interface code, but council members Tim Peters and Dan Ruscetti voted no as the city weighed how much more it can absorb from state-driven requirements.

The split centered on whether Trinidad’s new construction rules fit a small mountain city with limited contractor capacity, not just the larger Front Range communities that often shape state policy. Supporters argued that it is cheaper to prepare new buildings for future electrical and solar needs during construction than to retrofit them later. Opponents warned that the city still has to think about electrical capacity, enforcement and whether local builders can keep up with more technical standards.

Trinidad won approval to delay enforcement of the electric-ready requirements while it develops a formal implementation plan, and that plan must be completed by July 1, 2027. Colorado’s energy-code rules require cities and counties updating building codes to adopt the model electric-ready and solar-ready provisions during the July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026 window, and the state’s new Model Low Energy and Carbon Code becomes the minimum energy code on July 1, 2026 for jurisdictions updating their codes.

Senate Bill 23-166 created the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code Board and requires jurisdictions in wildland-urban interface areas to adopt wildfire codes that meet or exceed state model standards. In Trinidad, that means rules on building materials, vegetation management, emergency access and water supply.

Fire officials warned that aging equipment and breakdowns could leave Trinidad without critical firefighting capability, making the used aerial ladder truck a practical stopgap even as the city takes on new code requirements. At the county level, Las Animas County’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan is expected to be finalized in October 2026, and the Las Animas County Office of Emergency Management prepares for, prevents, responds to and recovers from all-hazard emergencies.