Residents urge Jefferson County to revoke 1990 Pine Drive license agreement, cite safety and process concerns

Two Evergreen residents told the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners on Feb. 11 that a 1990 license agreement allowing a fence and other encroachments on Pine Drive’s right of way was approved based on incomplete information and must be revoked.

Tiffany Seychell Hicks and Rebecca Hicks — who said they live at 27901 Pine Drive — said the original board of adjustment approval in 1990 relied on a hand-sketch and a subsequent survey that they say omitted a county deeded 50-foot right of way. “The county cannot give away deeded right aways and multiple property owners deeds,” Tiffany Hicks told the commissioners. She said the road’s usable width has been reduced and is now “no more than 17.5 feet from pavement to pavement,” creating a blind approach and situations where “only 1 car can pass at a time.”

Rebecca Hicks said the county has allowed the property owners more time to apply for variances and permits and has not provided a timeline. She asked the board to revoke the license agreement and to investigate what she described as past county contracts between the property owner’s business, Lynn Myers Vegetation Management Inc., and Jefferson County. “Last year he worked 14 days and billed the county $82,398,” Rebecca Hicks said, providing the figure and asking staff to review invoice numbers and dates. She also said the property had been used to store equipment and hazardous chemicals and asked whether county staff had verified removal.

Both speakers said they raised the issue with Planning and Zoning; Tiffany Hicks said she saw records indicating the 1990 agreement remained pending as of April 1, 2024, and later that the county “closed out this pending item.” They requested follow-up and enforcement action from the county and said indemnity clauses in the agreement (which they quoted as clauses 3, 4 and 5) do not remove the county’s responsibility to correct an alleged mistake.

Commissioner Lehi Dahlkemper thanked the speakers and offered to follow up; no formal action was taken at the Feb. 11 meeting. The commissioners did not vote on the license agreement during this session.

The speakers’ comments flagged three types of county follow-up they want: (1) a survey and title review to confirm the location and status of the 50-foot right of way; (2) revocation or termination of the 1990 license agreement consistent with its temporary-termination clause; and (3) an inspection or audit to confirm whether hazardous materials and equipment have been removed from the property and to review past county contracts with the contractor named in public comment.

The public comments were followed later in the meeting by unrelated consent and hearing votes; none of those votes resolved the Hicks family’s request during this public-comment period.