Guest View-John Musolf: Is It Time For "Assurance Insurance"

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Recently, I have attended a number of neighborhood, planning and zoning, and town council meetings where a number of developments have been discussed.

One point that was brought up repeatedly was the concern that a developer could run out of money or go bankrupt and the town is left with an eyesore. Remember the Hilton Suites on Oracle Road that remained half finished for a couple of years as an eyesore until it was razed?

Insurance (sometimes called Assurance Insurance) can be required of a developer so that monies can be available for restoration and/or protection (treatment and remediation).  This insurance could be required to restore the property as best a possible should:

• the developer become bankrupt;
• significant archaeological, historic, environmental, endangered plant or animal species resources be discovered that might require stoppage of development;
• an “Act of God” render the development unusable.

An example of use is the the Hilton Suites that started along the east side of Oracle Road, south of the El Conquistador. It remained half-finished as an “eyesore” for almost 2 years before being torn down.
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