An access dispute that has been in court for years was the subject of a three hour hearing June 6.
Neighbors faced off over Rocky Road and a locked gate, and they appeared to be no closer together than before the hearing.
Rocky Road goes west from Highway 69 between Boulder and Whitehall. Landowner Shannon Gardner told the court a locked gate across the road is necessary to prevent traffic from a nearby subdivision from crossing her private property. But others said the gate deprives them of historic access and their easement rights.
Rancher Ed McCauley testified that his family has used the road since 1865 to reach some of their ranchlands. Hauling rock and timber, checking irrigation, fencing, managing cattle and more has been done via that road, he said. In addition, about 20 to 30 hunters per year get permission to hunt on that land, said McCauley.
Since the dispute began, the gate has made all of that difficult or impossible, he said.
There is an alternate route that avoids the gate, but that is an extra mile and a half and crosses land where he does not have a historic easement, he said. The options also “take time which is costly to our ranching operation,” said McCauley, telling the court about a breach colt that he said was lost due to delay caused by the gate.
Jenifer Wise said she has lived on the road for 25 years, longer than Gardner. “Before I bought the property, I made sure there were easements,” she testified, saying the locked gate denied her the reasonable use of that easement.
Sharing a story about a friend who broke a femur while at her house, Wise said medical care was delayed due to the locked gate.
“I think a locked gate is very dangerous,” she said.
Gardner said she bought her property before a nearby subdivision went in. She said a previous court ruling in a suit she filed against the developer gave her the right to fence her property to prevent trespassing.
Simply putting up private property signs did not solve the issues, however, she said.
All of the witnesses talked about instances of keyed locks, chains with carabiners used to make it look as if the gate was locked and other attempted means of allowing passage by McCauley and Wise but not others. But for various reasons all of the attempts to resolve the issue were unsuccessful, they said.
The dispute heated up again in May. A December 2017 restraining order was intended to keep Gardner from locking out McCauley and Wise, but the pair testified that in May they were locked out again. Gardner denied locking the gate since the restraining order took effect.
Testimony by a prior landowner said that covenants on the land before Gardner bought prevented “fences or other obstructions” across the road. But her attorney said the covenants did not mention gates. And Gardner maintained the previous court order allowed her to do that fencing.
Judge Luke Berger did not rule from the bench, saying a ruling would come later.
