State dismisses condemnation complaint against Durango
“Great Outdoors Colorado dismissed an inquiry into whether the city of Durango threatened to use eminent domain against a property owner to extend the Animas River Trail.
Jackie Miller, program director at GOCO, said after reviewing Durango resident Tim Wolf’s complaint, the city’s response and its own policy, she found Durango was not considering condemnation as a means of completing the northern extension of the Animas River Trail and that the city was not in violation of its GOCO grant agreement.
GOCO, a state agency that awarded the city $1.4 million for the Animas River Trail northern extension, is prohibited from awarding grants for projects if a government entity condemns and acquires real property to complete the project. The rule also prohibits the threat of condemnation, Miller said in a previous interview with The Durango Herald.
Wolf accused city staff of threatening to condemn his property to complete a 4,600-foot extension of the Animas River Trail from Memorial Park near 32nd Street to Oxbow Park and Reserve, in northern Durango. The trail will be built in an easement along the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad tracks, which crosses Wolf’s property.”
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Hauff, Bret. Durango Herald 28 March 2019.