Town of Mountain Village and TMVOA create Cedar Shake Incentive Fire Mitigation Program

The Town of Mountain Village in collaboration with the Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association as a funding partner is upping its commitment to incentivize property owners for preventive measures in wildfire hazard mitigation. The Town currently has a Wildfire Mitigation Defensible Space Incentive Program in place to help residents create a woodland defensible space barrier around their home or buildings lowering their property’s wildfire risk. The program provides a resident rebate up to 50 percent of the total defensible space project costs up to $5,000 per property. To continue in these efforts, Mountain Village Town Council implemented a Cedar Shake Incentive Fire Mitigation Program in 2017 providing a rebate toward building permit fees when residents re-roof their home or building from cedar shake shingles to a town-approved fire-rated roofing material. “A Mountain Village property has a 70 percent wildfire survival rate if the structure on their property has a non-flammable roof and a 99 percent survival rate if the property has both a non-flammable roof on the structure and defensible space has also been created on the property,” explained Planning and Development Services Director Michelle Haynes, “Every cedar shake roof that is replaced in our community with a non-flammable material is a win.” In order to increase participation in the program and help prepare Mountain Village for the possibility of wildfire, Town Council recently approved changing the program from a rebate to a complete fee waiver and removing the $5,000 cap per incentive with TMVOA committing to funding the fee waiver. “As we have seen throughout the state, the risk of wildfire and ensuing damages to whole communities is very real,” said Mayor Laila Benitez. “Town Council created the Cedar Shake Incentive Program to support our property owners’ efforts to lower their home’s wildfire risk. This is the single most impactful step homeowners can take to reduce their home’s risk and we are committed to helping owners achieve this risk reduction.” To take advantage of this program’s cost savings, residents must apply for approval to re-roof their home or building from cedar shake shingles to an approved fire rated roofing material and submit a Town of Mountain Village building permit for review and approval through the Design Review Board. This incentive program is open until funds are exhausted and is for properties within the Town of Mountain Village. “We thank TMVOA for their partnership and continued support of this vital program. We look forward to working together on this and other programs that benefit our community,” Benitez said. To learn more about the Cedar Shake Incentive Fire Mitigation Program and the necessary steps taken to receive a building permit fee waiver to re-roofing their home or building, please visit townofmountainvillage.com/incentive.