Candidates for a state House of Representative seat and two La Plata County commissioner seats took questions Thursday about how they might address challenges facing the construction industry.
The Home Builders Association of La Plata County hosted the forum at the Henry Strater Theatre, and builders asked about affordable housing, the labor shortage and legislative solutions to protect them from frivolous construction defects lawsuits.
Many of the candidates said they were open to ideas from builders to help incentivize the construction of affordable housing.
The Republicans running for county commission, Kayla Patterson in District 3 and Lyle McKnight in District 2, both promised to reform the county’s planning department.
“We should be building our business up, not regulating them and tearing them down,” Patterson said.
Commission Julie Westendorff, a Democrat who represents District 3, said many forces driving housing costs like the price of land and labor are largely outside of government control.
The revisions put in place by the board recently have halved the amount of time it takes to receive a Class II permit, said Josh Joswick, speaking on behalf of Commissioner Gwen Lachelt, also a Democrat who represents District 2.
A Class II permit is required for commercial, industrial and multi-family residential projects, among others.
Lachelt could not attend because of a family emergency, but most questions were provided to the candidates ahead of time, and Joswick read her answers.
Both state Rep. J. Paul Brown, a Republican, and his challenger, Democrat Barbara McLachlan, agreed the construction defects laws need to be revised to help boost available housing.
Republicans made this a priority during the legislative session, but a compromise could not be reached, Brown said.
“It might be my No. 1 bill next year,” Brown said
McLachlan supported changes that would be similar to what the city of Durango is pursuing, such as requiring mediation and a majority of homeowners to vote on lawsuits.
“We need to find a balance between the builder and the homeowner,” she said.
County commission candidates addressed a variety of concerns from the lengthy building permit process to requiring home sprinkler systems.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
