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Residents tell CUDA Council owner’s unannounced ditch work harmed habitat, worry about upcoming development
Summary
Residents of Peaceful Valley told the CUDA Council on Aug. 12 that a property owner and subcontractors entered neighborhood lots without notice to clear a storm ditch, removed vegetation and left the channel in poor condition; council asked staff to check permitting.
Residents of the Peaceful Valley neighborhood told the CUDA Council on Aug. 12 that a property owner and the owner’s subcontractor entered private lots without notice to perform work on a storm ditch and catch basin, removed vegetation and left the swale in poor condition.
Doug Stroh said the owner has sought changes to the property’s development controls to allow more density and that recent ditch work appears to contradict prior conditions. “The owner and or his subcontractor came in without notice to property owners, abandoned the ditch, and removed up foliage,” Stroh said. He said work left the ditch with “rock, dirt, and tall weeds” instead of the grass that a 2023 hearing examiner’s order had described.
Neighbor Charmaine Hartzhorn said the clearing had “completely disrupted” habitat in and around the pond and catch basin, and that residents feared heavy equipment would harm wildlife. “Given how this particular landowner behaves, we expect the bull in the china shop to just go in without any care, or mercy for anything that’s in there,” Hartzhorn said.
Council member Powell asked Scott Austin, the town building official, whether a clearing-and-grading permit had been issued for the work. Austin said he was not aware of a permit and noted that routine brush clearing and maintenance of existing drainage features frequently fall under exceptions to the clearing-and-grading permitting threshold. “A clearing and grading permit, there’s an exception level if you’re below a certain amount of dirt… brush clearing generally does not meet that criteria,” Austin said.
Council members recorded the public comments and asked staff to follow up. The council did not take a formal action on the item during the meeting; Powell asked staff to check permitting records the following day.
The statements in this article come from public comment and an on-the-record staff response at the CUDA Council meeting on Aug. 12, 2025. The council’s recording and meeting minutes will be the official record of any subsequent permitting determinations or enforcement steps.
