In December, La Plata County officials are scheduled to hear two appeals addressing a war waging over an Animas Valley property.
On East Sixth Avenue, off 32nd Street, Anne Markward’s home looks over a valley that has, she says, a glaring blight. Down a slope beneath her back deck, a dry patch amid surrounding vegetation is heaped with dirt, concrete, asphalt and other materials dumped by trucks from about 15 different companies.
Larry Simmons, who owns the site, has a building permit from the county building director and permission from the county planning director to elevate the site the required 12 inches above the floodplain, with the intention of building a single-family residential home. But his neighbors, including Markward, assert Simmons’ engineer (Harris Water Engineering) submitted a faulty floodplain study, and that Simmons should be required to secure a commercial permit to allow dumping on his property.
“I have been in ecotourism my whole life, and I’m offended by this as much as anything,” Markward said.
She and others with the Willow Bend Homeowners Association appointed a hydrologist with Riverwise Engineering to conduct an independent study, which rebutted Harris Water Engineering’s findings.
Through the appeals, the neighbors argue the planning director and building director made their respective determinations in error. Furthermore, they say the fill has impacted surrounding vegetation, and the county should not make any decisions based on contested floodplain data.
Building Director Butch Knowlton, who is in charge of issuing building permits, said Simmons’ property is within the floodplain, but he is permitted to build there so long as he elevates the property where he intends to build, per floodplain regulation.
“From day one, when Simmons first started working with me, we had to come to an agreement that any fill would have to be compactible whereby a structure could be built,” Knowlton said. “There is no building or organic materials – nothing that could decay. There’s concrete, asphalt, rock and dirt.”
In other words, degradable materials, as opposed to concrete, for example, are not suitable for building because they would ultimately decay and impact the house’s foundation.
Attorney Tom Dugan, who is representing Simmons, said he and his client are “confident” in their engineer’s report, and that Simmons does not profit from the dumping operation. Dugan maintains the neighbors have filed these appeals because they dislike the ongoing activity at the Simmons property.
“Like any project, nobody likes it when it’s going on, but it’s legally allowed,” Dugan said. He estimated 10-15 companies haul to the site as does the county.
“If they stopped the county from hauling the runoff from the mountains, they’d have to truck that down to Bondad,” Dugan said. “That’s more wear and tear on the county roads.”
The county has hauled truckloads of flood debris from East Animas Road (County Road 250) to the site because of the convenience of the location, but County Attorney Sheryl Rogers said county activity on the site has ceased until the appeals are resolved.
Rogers said only if Simmons received payment from companies that dump on the property would the operation be indicative of a commercial practice. Legally, one cannot call it “commercial” just because a company saves money by dumping there.
“How can you say it’s not commercial when the guys hauling here are hauling from a business where they make a profit?” said Cap Allen, an engineer. “The reality is, they could dump here or go to Bondad 15-20 miles away. Trucking costs are a function of distance.”
Allen has worked on multiple homes surrounding Simmons’ property. He built and formerly lived in a brick house adjacent to Markward’s, and he has watched the progression of Simmons’ property over the years. His problem is with River Bend Street, a city road trucks travel to access the Simmons property. A sign posted along the street prohibits trucks over 7,000 pounds, but City Code Enforcement Officer Steve Barkley said there is an exception for vehicles making deliveries or pickups.
Durango Community Development Director Greg Hoch said residents along Riverbend Street have complained for years about the Simmons property, but he said hauling fill is a property owner’s right. A similar situation is transpiring within the city at 1304 Florida Road, where the owner is elevating the land with fill for a multi-family housing project. Hoch said neighbors have complained about obstructing views, but not about the fill.
“People may not like it, but it’s allowable,” Hoch said.
Knowlton said in his 40 years working for the county, the upcoming appeals are unprecedented.
“I can’t think of another site like this in Durango,” Allen said. “They get away with it because you can’t see it unless you’re standing right there.”
jpace@durangoherald.com
If you go
The hearing before the Board of Adjustment and planning director will be held at 4 p.m. Dec. 2. The Board of County Commissioners will hear the appeal about the floodplain at 9 a.m. Dec. 3.
