Neighbor says possible Native American burial site should stop subdivision

An eleventh-hour effort to stop the creation of a small subdivision in the foothills outside Morrison hinges on tentative and uncertain findings of a Native American burial site Two contractors Damien Davis and Ken Hoyt plan to subdivide undeveloped acres south of the North Turkey Creek Road and Starlight Drive intersection into three -acre home lots Richard Finney a spacecraft engineer who lives to the west has long opposed that idea After losing one legal development against Davis and Hoyt and being ordered Oct to pay them in attorney fees Finney sued again one week later He is also suing Jefferson County planners and commissioners for approving the Davis-Hoyt expansion in September The suit is as meritless as Mr Finney s other actions taken against my client and this project announced Dylan Woods a lawyer for the prospective developers We re confident the district court will approve the Board of County Commissioners decision in due module Finney s latest reasoning is that on Oct Colorado s state archaeologist visited the site and revealed backing for an indigenous person s burial site according to the lawsuit he filed Oct The archaeologist Holly Norton says her work there has been pretty minimal I will tell you honestly we get a lot of folks who reach out and sometimes it feels like people are looking for an excuse to stop a improvement that they don t like In this episode the neighbors were indeed concerned Norton mentioned in an interview Several families in this neighborhood have this oral history of there being a burial on this parcel and on this property Norton who also leads the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation reported she has not visited the property since it is private and has never spoken with Davis or Hoyt She has only viewed the site from society rights of way and is cautious when discussing her findings Given the landform I think that there could potentially be an archaeological site or a burial she explained by phone That is information I conveyed back to the county for them to consider as they see appropriate in their deliberations That is the extent of my involvement You demanded what me and my club detected We didn t find anything We just saw an area where there is the promising for archaeological sites according to the state archaeologist Norton stressed that her role is advisory She takes no position on growth at the site Finney the displeased neighbor says county agents have advised him there is no mechanism by which they can pause the Davis-Hoyt evolution so he is asking a judge to do so Cassie Pearce a spokeswoman for Jefferson County declined to discuss the matter Once advance begins environmental damage and loss of historical artifacts cannot be undone property boundary markers may be permanently altered and historical archaeological and paleontological support will be lost Finney s lawsuit warned last week Talk of archaeology or historical import have been absent from the county s discussion of the Cimarron Peak subdivision as Davis and Hoyt call their project Instead the focus has been on questions and concerns that are more common to a rural mountain advance There were a number of issues that were especially concerning like road access a fenceline discrepancy drainage well water flood plain Planning Commissioner Stacy Liles mentioned at a Sept hearing It sounds like there was a lot of stuff from the past that we can t deal with We are looking at whether it meets the requirements or not Liles and her colleagues determined it does they voted - to approve the subdivision That sent the idea on to the Board of County Commissioners which considered it Sept No cultural sites were identified county engineer Laura Armstrong narrated commissioners then No impacts to historical or archaeological or paleontological support are expected Related Articles University of Denver lists -acre multifamily property for million Denver Water submits plans for operations campus replacing land going to Broncos Greenwood Village approves residential project on long-empty acres Progressive candidates lead in all Aurora council races Littleton anti-dense housing measure leads Area land trust buys Brighton Boulevard land for M for housing After hearing from Davis and Finney commissioners voted - to approve the subdivision This is the decision Finney is now asking Jefferson County District Court to reverse On Oct Judge Christopher Rhamey declined to halt the improvement because Finney had not yet served his lawsuit on the Cimarron developers or Jefferson County but offered to hold a hearing and consider issuing a stay after the defendants have had time to weigh in Davis who lives in nearby Evergreen and bought the acres along North Turkey Creek Road in reported the subdivision process has been frustrating at times but understandable Our intent is to have three homes ultimately built here he narrated Jefferson County commissioners on Sept and to have families being raised on these -acre lots Get more real estate and business news by signing up for our weekly newsletter On the Block