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Planning for the Future

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Aurora Council Members Ingrid Lindemann and Ed Tauer Enact Their Vision of Longevity & Permanence

Ingrid Lindemann & Ed Tauer

Denver, CO (2001) - The City of Aurora will soon be putting its best brick-face forward.

In August 2000, the city council enacted some bold and controversial requirements for the use of construction materials in the city. Figuring strongly into the ordinance is the use of brick to enhance a sense of permanence and stability.

Leading the charge are two progressive council members with strong feelings about the relationship between construction materials and the longevity of a city. Ingrid Lindemann and Ed Tauer have spent their lives serving the public, and they have worked hard to set up programs that will extend the use of masonry into Aurora’s future.

Lindemann said: “My interests are the needs of my constituents and proper planning for Aurora’s future.” The commitment is evident in her 15-year campaign to establish a quality standard for the city’s residential construction.

Growing up in Germany, Lindemann said she never thought much about a building’s longevity. Since many structures there had endured since the Middle Ages, it was taken for granted that the places where people lived and worked would be around for decades to come.

Later she married an American and traveled around the United States, learning about planning and design in various cities; then the Lindemann family moved to Aurora in the 1970s. As the years went by, she watched as Aurora struggled to keep up with the metro area’s rapid growth.

New housing and businesses went up fast to meet the demand, but too soon those structures began to deteriorate. As a result, some people began to associate Aurora with shoddy construction and rundown neighborhoods.

Aurora officials hope the masonry ordinance will stop the spread of housing's "beige fungus."

In 1987, as a newly elected Aurora City Council member, she observed that older Denver neighborhoods like Washington Park and Bonnie Brae were still highly desirable places to live. They had been designed under a 100-year ordinance mandating that all structures within the city limits be built with fire-proof materials. Masonry was the material of choice.

Soon she had a chance to put those observations into action. Lindemann served on the Lowry Redevelopment Committee and helped introduce “new urbanism” ideas such as more parks and open space and mixed-use buildings. Then, after nearly 15 years in office, her biggest win came last year when the City of Aurora passed an ordinance requiring a minimum of 50 percent masonry on the exterior of new single-family homes, and at least 60 percent masonry on all new multi-family buildings.

“The idea of a masonry ordinance was something I started exploring as soon as I was elected, but I was always told that brick costs too much,” Lindemann explained. “Yet, when we met with members of the Colorado Brick Council in 1999, they were able to dispel some of the myths of building with masonry and its costs. Once all the facts were in, the ordinance flowed through approval. It just made sense.”

Lindemann’s vision of an improved and more enduring Aurora was shared by fellow city council member Ed Tauer.

Although only recently elected to the council, Tauer was in tune with his city. He had heard from many neighbors and constituents who wanted – but did not have the money – to replace the dilapidated wooden fences that bordered their neighborhoods. With their support, Tauer spearheaded an effort called the Neighborhood Fence Program.

Through the program, the City of Aurora will provide interested neighborhoods with several different renderings of masonry fences. After a group chooses the design it likes, the upfront costs to build the fences will be financed by the city and repaid by homeowners over time. In addition to protecting the community from traffic noise, it’s also expected that homes near the new brick walls will appreciate more rapidly than similar homes with wood fences.

Based on the overwhelmingly positive response from the citizens of Aurora, the Neighborhood Fence Program is already a success. What’s more, Tauer has sought and gained new building guidelines that require brick or wrought iron to be used for all new fences.

“What the guidelines and ordinances provide is more of a quality guarantee,” he said.

Like Lindemann, Tauer believes that because of its permanence, brick is the smart choice for building lasting communities with a human scale. “When addressing growth, quality is as important as quantity,” he said. “And that’s not just an Aurora issue. It’s a Colorado issue.”

Aurora’s New Masonry Face At A Glance

After decades of rapid growth, the City of Aurora is putting on a new face to ensure quality communities for a long time to come – and often using masonry to do it. Here are just a few steps Aurora is taking to build a better tomorrow:

Masonry Ordinance – officially put into effect August 5, 2000, it requires 50% masonry usage on the exterior of single family homes and 60% masonry to be used on the exterior of multifamily dwellings.

Fence Replacement Program – replaces older wooden fences with new brick walls. City manages construction of new fence upfront, then recoups cost from only those who directly benefit in annual payments divided according to percentage appreciation for each home.

Along E-470 – tilt-up/pre-cast concrete is prohibited. The effect is getting more architectural elements in commercial buildings. “Days of the commercial cube in Aurora are gone,” explains Councilman Ed Tauer.

"When addressing growth, quality is as important as quantity."
-- Ed Tauer --

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