ralin
2024-12-23 19:46:56 UTC
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Permalinkleadership.
Must be the lack of oxygen in Colorado.
When Holly Sturgon bought her forever home eleven years ago, she never
imagined she'd be dismantling the home piece by piece.
Unfortunately, she now finds herself selling everything from toilets to
garage doors to the pendant lighting in her kitchen, all because of a
devastating flood that revealed the house was built on an old retention
pond.
"People walking down through this neighborhood have got to look at this
and just say, what in the world?... Up until a month ago, I probably cried
almost every single day," she told 9News. "Going through this part of it,
it tears at my heartstrings every day.
The problem began in 2023 when a flood revealed that the land beneath four
homes in the neighborhood including Sturgon's was originally a
retention pond designed to protect the community from flooding. Builders
filled in the pond and built homes on the land without notifying the
buyers. After exploring all the options, the town of Johnstown has been
forced to buy back the four homes, demolish them, and restore the
retention ponds.
Lawyers told the family there was no recourse'
Initially, the family wanted to fight to keep their homes. They spoke with
several lawyers, who all told them they would lose the fight. This is
likely due to eminent domain laws, which allow the state government to
take property for public usein Sturgon's case, for a retention pond. Now,
the family is coming to terms with leaving.
"Im going to miss it," Sturgon said. "I look out here. I look at our
neighbors. Thats the hard part."
Moving is never easy, but it's even more challenging when you have no
choice and realize your home won't be welcoming a new family.
"When you sell a house, you clean it really good for the next person, and
Im purposely destroying the house. Its pretty different," Sturgon said.
"I hope nobody has to go through this because its not a comfortable
feeling at all."
The family is being forced out of Colorado by high home prices
Sturgon said the town repurchased the homes for a reasonable price, but
it's still not enough for them to stay in Colorado. Rebuying another home
in the city is out of their price range, where the median home price is
$514,200.
Instead, the family has decided to relocate to Georgia, where the median
home price is lower and they can be closer to family. As Sturgon sells off
her home piece by piece, she hopes no one else will have to experience the
pain of tearing down their forever home to protect others. The lesson here
is a difficult one: without careful oversight and accountability, even
your dream home can be taken away.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/what-in-the-world-colorado-
homes-to-be-bulldozed-after-developers-built-on-top-of-retention-pond-
families-forced-to-sell-everything-and-move/ar-AA1wmFC5