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Tag: Property Rights

If you don’t defend it, you don’t own it: DeGette’s open border gamble
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

If you don’t defend it, you don’t own it: DeGette’s open border gamble

By Tom Anthony | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The road to owning property resembles a superhighway to some and a Colorado jeep trail to others. To the Sioux it resembled a torn up mass of earth and buffalo chips; to the Comanche, four hooves and a mane. To me, who has come by it in fits, starts, dead ends, and reversals the road signs say: "Adverse possession," "Fence Out State," "Prescriptive Easement," "Permit Required," "Tax Lien Sale," and "Eminent Domain." In other words, nothing too simple about it. I see Congresswoman DeGette, married to a judge and who has held down the 1st Congressional seat in Colorado since 1997, now wants to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division of the federal government. In other words, dissolve the borders. T...
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When “blight” becomes a tool: How redevelopment labels unlock subsidies and eminent domain
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, Local

When “blight” becomes a tool: How redevelopment labels unlock subsidies and eminent domain

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project It’s all blight … if you’re clever enough I had a friend (a Catholic) who once quipped that you can do anything you want in the Catholic church as long as you can find the right priest. I’ve thought about that quote in a variety of contexts because it’s pretty applicable. It certainly is in the Denverite article linked first below. That article details how the Denver Urban Renewal Authority (DURA) will be investigating the potential new location of the new Bronco’s stadium for evidence of blight. Why you ask? A quote from the article details the reason: “The study could mark another significant step in the area’s redevelopment. It could eventually lead to the establishment of an urban re...
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Colorado Lawmakers Move To Rein In Utility Eminent Domain After Xcel Land Dispute
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Move To Rein In Utility Eminent Domain After Xcel Land Dispute

By: Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics After months of backlash over Xcel Energy’s use of eminent domain in eastern Colorado, lawmakers representing Elbert and El Paso counties are advancing legislation that would bar utilities from initiating property takings until they’ve secured state approval and all required local permits — a move supporters say will restore fairness and prevent landowners from being forced into legal limbo. House Bill 1278, sponsored by Rep. Chris Richardson, R-Elizabeth, and Sens. Marc Snyder, D-Colorado Springs, and Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells, would require utilities to receive a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Public Utilities Commission, as well as all necessary local land use approvals and permits, before initiating em...
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Rural Lawmakers Reject Polis Backed Pesticide Restrictions
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Rural Lawmakers Reject Polis Backed Pesticide Restrictions

By Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics A proposal to limit the use of neonicotinoid-coated crop seeds collapsed in the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee last week, as rural lawmakers, including two Democrats, joined Republicans to reject what they called an expensive, impractical mandate on farmers. Senate Bill 65 would have required farmers to obtain permission from third-party evaluators before using crop seeds coated with neonicotinoid pesticides, also known as neonics. But the committee’s rural lawmakers, including two Democrats, weren’t persuaded that the program sponsored by Democratic Sens. Katie Wallace of Longmont and Cathy Kipp of Fort Collins was the right step, killing the bill in a 2-5 vote last week. Wallace claimed farmers are p...
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Simple Backyard Upgrade Leads To Costly Zoning Battle in Denver
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CBS Colorado, Approved, Local

Simple Backyard Upgrade Leads To Costly Zoning Battle in Denver

By Chierstin Roth | CBS Colorado Denver homeowner EJ Braquet built a pergola over his back patio for his aging mother back in 2023. She can no longer make it to the nearby park, so he wanted to give her a shaded spot in the backyard to get outside. However, he could never have imagined what happened next.  "I basically said I don't want to cut any corners," said Braquet. "I want to build it right and build it nice." Little did he know that his backyard project would spark a multi-year battle with the city. "Didn't have anything to hide, didn't realize I needed a permit at the time, I thought this was very similar to what you could buy at Costco and assemble yourself," Braquet said. Braquet says he was contacted by city zoning after a neighbor reported th...
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Colorado Bill Would Let Select Housing Projects Bypass Local Zoning Rules
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Colorado Bill Would Let Select Housing Projects Bypass Local Zoning Rules

By Danielle Kreutter | Denver7 Advocates say HB26-1001 will make it easier to build affordable housing; critics warn it takes away local control. DENVER - A bill that would allow certain landowners — such as schools and affordable housing nonprofits — to bypass certain local zoning restrictions is heading to committee. HB26-1001, or the HOME Act, is heading to the House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee on Tuesday. Qualifying properties can be no more than five acres and must belong to: - A nonprofit organization that historically has provided affordable housing- A nonprofit that works in public transit- A nonprofit that is in agreement with an affordable housing nonprofit- A school district- A state college or university- A housing aut...
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State Regulators Set Hearing on El Paso County Rejection of Xcel Power Line Permits
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Local

State Regulators Set Hearing on El Paso County Rejection of Xcel Power Line Permits

By Scott Weiser | The Denver Gazette Proposed routing for Xcel’s Power Pathway project in eastern and southeastern Colorado (Courtesy of Xcel Energy)      Colorado regulators plan a public hearing next week on Xcel Energy’s appeal to override El Paso County’s rejection of permits for a major transmission line segment. The hearing renews debate over a statewide renewable energy project that rural residents argue threatens property rights, wildfire safety and local landscapes without delivering benefits to their communities. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission scheduled the in-person session for 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Jan. 26 at Swink Hall in the El Paso County Fair and Events Center, 366 10th St., Calhan, to gather comments on Xcel’s request to build 45 mil...
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Who decides where power lines go in Colorado? Meet CETA, the unelected authority
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Who decides where power lines go in Colorado? Meet CETA, the unelected authority

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project Worried about land use for energy infrastructure? Save some time to watch CETA. There has been a lot of attention paid to Xcel Energy and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) over where and how electric infrastructure will run in this state.See, for example, Polis encouraging his cronies at the PUC to take up the appeal over Xcel's Power Pathway through Elbert and El Paso in an October 2025 newsletter linked first below for an example.There is another unelected board in this state that does similar work with far less news coverage, however.The second link below is to a 2021 bill (SB21-072) that does a whole lot of things.Screenshot 1 (from the bill's fiscal note) shows you what this bill does with regard to...
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Feds own the dams, but who owns the water?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, National

Feds own the dams, but who owns the water?

By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com A couple years ago, I criticized the Bureau of Reclamation for draining Blue Mesa Reservoir without bothering to tell the people in Gunnison whose livelihood is affected. I got a little push-back for saying that while the Bureau owned the dam, it did not own the water. A close friend and water lawyer told me to be careful, that the Bureau does in fact own some water rights in the Gunnison River. I admit the legal nuance but still insist it is a debatable point. That’s because Congress never funded such water projects for the purpose of the federal government owning and controlling the West’s water. The Colorado River Storage Project Act of 1956 led to construction of Glen Canyon, Flaming Gorge, and Navajo Dams, as well as ...
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The Bill of Rights was written to limit power. One civics lesson explains how.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

The Bill of Rights was written to limit power. One civics lesson explains how.

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice “I observed… the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer,” Ben Franklin. Bill of Rights Day is often marked with references to free speech, due process and other familiar rights. Less attention is paid to the reason those protections exist at all: to place clear limits on government power. That question sits at the center of a handwritten civics lesson now being shared among homeschool students, one that walks through how the Constitution was designed to restrict government authority, including economic decision-making. Susie Dean, a homeschool civic...
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