Colorado couple fights to save land from eminent domain
'This is our heaven': Colorado couple fights to save land from
eminent domain
By Faith
Mangan, Alicia
Acuna
April 08, 2014 FoxNews.com
Read the full
story and listen to the news report at ….
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/08/colorado-couple-fights-unusual-eminent-domain-bid-to-seize-land/
BRECKENRIDGE,
Colo. – "They're spending us to death," said
landowner Andy Barrie.
He is not
talking about property taxes, inflation or even the cost of skiing in glitzy
ski country. Rather, he's talking about the legal fight he and his wife
have been waging to save their pristine piece of mountain property -- with
breathtaking views of Colorado's
high country -- from being taken over by the county through eminent
domain.
Their battle
is a unique test of private property rights. Unlike in countless other cases,
where local governments have used those powers to seize land to make way for a
road or some economic development project, Colorado's Summit County is using
eminent domain to go after the Barries' land simply
because officials want the open space.
It's a
peaceful plot of land the Barries don't want to part
with.
"Everyone
has their special place where they really like to go, and when we came up here
the first time we said this is our heaven, this is a special place," Andy
Barrie explained.
Two years
ago, Andy and Ceil Barrie bought two pieces of land: a house in an established
subdivision, and another piece of property at a higher elevation, accessible by
an old mining road.
The isolated
parcel is surrounded by 2.2 million acres of White River National Forest,
and is essentially an island of private property. It includes an old mining
cabin, an outhouse and a shuttered gold mine. The area is popular with
hikers.
The couple's
trouble started when the U.S.
Forest Service took them to task for using a
utility vehicle to drive from their main residence to their cabin. They say
they never went off-road, and petitioned for the path to be declared a county
road.
The county,
though, responded by trying to buy the Barries' higher-elevation property
in order to protect and preserve it as open space. The Barries,
who never had any plans to develop it, did not want to sell.
That's when
the county pulled their trump card.
Unbeknownst
to the Barries,
the previous owner had remodeled the cabin without permits. So Summit County
commissioners voted to condemn the property for wiring and plumbing (even
though the cabin has none) and filed for eminent domain.
"I
understand that we are all trying to save these beautiful mountains and make
them accessible to everyone, but you know that property has been sitting there
since President Garfield signed our land patent, and we're not doing anything
bad there," Ceil Barrie said.
Last week,
the two sides participated in required, formal mediation with a judge. Summit
County, which refused interview requests, released a statement saying:
"Both parties engaged in productive negotiations in pursuit of a voluntary
settlement regarding the purchase. ... We are optimistic that a resolution will
be reached within a matter of weeks, if not days."
The Barries'
hopes are dimming. Asked if recent mediation pointed to a way for the Barries
to keep the land in the family name and avoid eminent domain, Andy Barrie
responded flatly, "No, they're taking it."
Further,
they're concerned that should Summit County seize control of their 10-acre tract, the
county will simply trade the property with the U.S.
Forest Service for valuable land closer to
town.
"They
collude together to basically screw up their citizens. ... Sooner or later,
we're going to run out of money, but we wanted to fight the good fight and let
people know our story and what their government is up to," Andy Barrie
said.
Fox News
checked with the White River National Forest division of the U.S. Forest Service about the Barries' case.
Spokesman Bill Kight said via email: "In the
case of this or any on-going legal matter
(including eminent domain petitions) with any federal, state, county or local
government the Forest Service will not be
issuing any statement during such legal proceedings."
The Barries
have spent more than $75,000 to date. The mediation judge recently advised them
the financial figure could double in the coming months.
"I even
promised my daughter she could get married up here, and now all that's
gone," Andy Barrie said.
Alicia Acuna joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in 1997 and currently
serves as a general assignment reporter based in the network's Denver bureau.
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