HOA Built an $18M Lake on My Farm — My Lawyer Friend Told Me to Let Them Fill It — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00We have every right to build here. This
2. 0:02lake is HOA property.
3. 0:03>> The county report shows a boundary
4. 0:05discrepancy.
5. 0:06>> You're trespassing on my farm.
6. 0:08>> The HOA spent 18 million building a lake
7. 0:10on my farm. They bulldozed my pasture,
8. 0:12buried my access road, and proudly
9. 0:15announced that their new waterfront
10. 0:17community would become the most
11. 0:18expensive neighborhood in the county.
12. 0:21When I confronted the HOA president, she
13. 0:24laughed. "You should be thanking us."
14. 0:26Victoria Harland told me.
15. 0:28"Your worthless farmland is finally
16. 0:30becoming valuable."
17. 0:32I was about to call the sheriff when my
18. 0:34old friend,
19. 0:35attorney Michael Reed, gave me advice
20. 0:37that sounded completely insane.
21. 0:40"Grant, don't stop them from filling the
22. 0:42lake." I stared at him.
23. 0:44"They're building a lake on my property,
24. 0:46Michael. Why would I let them put
25. 0:47another drop of water in it?" He leaned
26. 0:50across my kitchen table.
27. 0:52"Because they're documenting everything
28. 0:53for us. Don't threaten anyone. Don't
29. 0:56damage anything. Photograph every stage,
30. 0:58preserve your records, and let me
31. 1:00examine the permits." That was when I
32. 1:02realized Michael had noticed something I
33. 1:04hadn't. My name is Grant Walker. I'm 47
34. 1:08years old, and my family had owned 420
35. 1:11acres of farmland in Colorado for three
36. 1:13generations. The property included a
37. 1:16working cattle pasture, an old
38. 1:18farmhouse, a private access road, and a
39. 1:20natural drainage basin that carried
40. 1:22seasonal runoff toward a creek. The land
41. 1:25next to mine had recently been purchased
42. 1:27by Silver Ridge Estates, a luxury HOA
43. 1:30development led by Victoria. Her board
44. 1:33wanted a massive artificial lake
45. 1:34surrounded by multi-million dollar
46. 1:36homes, private docks, walking paths, and
47. 1:40a waterfront clubhouse.
48. 1:42The original construction plans showed
49. 1:44the lake entirely within their
50. 1:45development.
51. 1:47But when I returned from a week away
52. 1:48helping my father recover from surgery,
53. 1:51I found bulldozers cutting into my
54. 1:53eastern pasture. Contractors had moved
55. 1:56my boundary markers, dug a broad basin,
56. 1:59and redirected a drainage channel across
57. 2:01my land.
58. 2:03A project sign stood beside the road.
59. 2:05Silver Ridge Signature Lake 18 million
60. 2:08development.
61. 2:10Immediately photographed the
62. 2:11construction and called the county.
63. 2:13Officials advised me to submit the
64. 2:15parcel information and permit details so
65. 2:17they could determine whether the work
66. 2:19crossed the approved boundaries. Then I
67. 2:22confronted Victoria at the construction
68. 2:24entrance.
69. 2:26She wore a white designer jacket and
70. 2:27stood beside two project managers.
71. 2:31"This land is part of our approved lake
72. 2:33expansion." She announced. I showed her
73. 2:35my deed. She barely glanced at it. "Our
74. 2:39attorneys have reviewed everything. The
75. 2:42old drainage corridor gives us the right
76. 2:44to use this area."
77. 2:46"An existing drainage route doesn't
78. 2:48automatically give you the right to
79. 2:49build an 18 million-dollar lake on my
80. 2:52farm." I replied. Victoria smiled
81. 2:55coldly. "Take us to court then. By the
82. 2:57time you finish, the lake will be full
83. 2:59and your property will be worth a
84. 3:00fortune."
85. 3:02That evening, Michael arrived with a
86. 3:04folder of public records. He had handled
87. 3:07property disputes for years, and he
88. 3:09immediately asked for my original deed,
89. 3:12the latest survey, the lake permit, and
90. 3:14the approved engineering plans. We
91. 3:17compared them side by side. The permit
92. 3:20site map appeared to place most of the
93. 3:21lake inside the HOA development.
94. 3:25But the newest survey showed that the
95. 3:27excavation crossed my boundary by a
96. 3:28substantial distance. Then Michael found
97. 3:31an older document attached to the county
98. 3:34drainage plan. It described a limited
99. 3:37drainage easement along part of the
100. 3:38property. It did not clearly authorize a
101. 3:41private reservoir, permanent inundation
102. 3:43of my pasture, or unrestricted
103. 3:46construction access. Michael tapped the
104. 3:48page.
105. 3:49"We need the county to verify the permit
106. 3:51boundaries and the exact scope of this
107. 3:53easement. Until then, don't interfere
108. 3:56with the machinery. Let the inspectors
109. 3:58document what is happening. But if they
110. 4:00fill the lake, they'll flood my land.
111. 4:03Not necessarily, he said. And if they
112. 4:06do, we need evidence of exactly where
113. 4:08the water goes,
114. 4:10what was authorized, and who is
115. 4:12responsible. The next morning, I watched
116. 4:15the contractors pour the final section
117. 4:17of the lake's concrete spillway.
118. 4:19Victoria stood on the opposite bank,
119. 4:21smiling for photographs as the first
120. 4:23water entered the enormous basin. She
121. 4:26believed she was watching her
122. 4:27million-dollar waterfront dream come
123. 4:29alive. I was watching a project whose
124. 4:31boundaries and legal authorization had
125. 4:33not yet been fully established, and
126. 4:35Michael was already preparing the
127. 4:37records request that could change
128. 4:39everything. For the next 3 weeks, I
129. 4:42followed Michael's instructions. I
130. 4:44didn't block the construction vehicles,
131. 4:45touch the equipment, or interfere with
132. 4:47the water system. I documented the work
133. 4:49from my property and provided the
134. 4:51evidence to the county. The county sent
135. 4:53a survey inspector and a drainage
136. 4:55engineer to examine the site. They
137. 4:57compared the approved lake plans with
138. 4:59the recorded parcel boundaries, the
139. 5:01drainage easement, and the actual
140. 5:03excavation.
141. 5:06Their preliminary findings were
142. 5:07troubling. The lake extended beyond the
143. 5:09boundary shown on the approved site
144. 5:11plan. Part of the new embankment
145. 5:13occupied my land, and the construction
146. 5:16had altered the natural drainage route.
147. 5:18The existing easement did not, on its
148. 5:21face, establish permission for all the
149. 5:23work the HOA had performed. Victoria's
150. 5:26board insisted the discrepancy was a
151. 5:29surveying mistake. Michael wasn't
152. 5:31convinced. He obtained the engineering
153. 5:33correspondence and discovered that an
154. 5:35earlier design had shown a narrower lake
155. 5:38entirely inside the HOA's parcel. A
156. 5:40later revision expanded the basin toward
157. 5:42my farm. The county file did not contain
158. 5:45clear approval for every change
159. 5:47reflected in the construction. That was
160. 5:50why Michael had told me to let the
161. 5:52evidence accumulate. The project team
162. 5:54had created photographs, contractor
163. 5:56invoices, excavation logs, engineering
164. 5:59revisions, and progress reports. Those
165. 6:02records helped establish how the lake
166. 6:04had been built, how the drainage route
167. 6:05had changed, and when the work crossed
168. 6:08the disputed boundary.
169. 6:10Then the HOA began filling the lake
170. 6:12faster.
171. 6:14Water surged through the newly
172. 6:15constructed inlet, spilling into the
173. 6:18basin.
174. 6:19On my side of the property, a low
175. 6:20section of pasture became saturated. I
176. 6:23photographed the standing water and
177. 6:25notified the county immediately. I did
178. 6:27not attempt to close the inlet myself.
179. 6:29Instead, the county issued a written
180. 6:32direction requiring the HOA to pause the
181. 6:34disputed filling activity while
182. 6:36officials evaluated the drainage changes
183. 6:39and potential impacts. The HOA had to
184. 6:42provide updated engineering information
185. 6:45and demonstrate how the system would
186. 6:46operate without causing unauthorized
187. 6:49impacts beyond its boundaries. Victoria
188. 6:52was furious. She arrived at my gate with
189. 6:55her attorney and demanded that I
190. 6:56withdraw my complaint. "You've delayed
191. 6:59an $18 million project because of a few
192. 7:02feet of dirt." she shouted. Michael
193. 7:04stood beside me holding the county's
194. 7:06preliminary findings. "This isn't about
195. 7:08a few feet of dirt." he replied. "The
196. 7:11lake crosses the surveyed boundary and
197. 7:13the permit file doesn't clearly
198. 7:15authorize the revised design."
199. 7:17Victoria turned toward her attorney.
200. 7:19"Tell him our easement gives us the
201. 7:21right."
202. 7:23Her attorney reviewed the document and
203. 7:24said nothing for several seconds.
204. 7:27The county's final review required the
205. 7:28HOA to redesign the affected section,
206. 7:32obtain the necessary approvals, and
207. 7:34restore the portion of my property
208. 7:36disturbed outside the authorized work
209. 7:38area. The parties also negotiated
210. 7:40compensation for documented land damage
211. 7:43and reasonable restoration costs. The
212. 7:46HOA could not simply claim that a
213. 7:48drainage easement entitled it to build
214. 7:51whatever it wanted. The lake project was
215. 7:53delayed for months. Engineers revised
216. 7:56the shoreline, the embankment was moved
217. 7:58back inside the approved development
218. 7:59boundary, and the drainage system was
219. 8:02redesigned and inspected.
220. 8:04Only after the required approvals were
221. 8:06obtained, could filling resume under the
222. 8:08revised operating plan.
223. 8:11Victoria's waterfront launch party was
224. 8:13canceled. Several residents demanded
225. 8:15explanations from the board, especially
226. 8:17after learning that the original plan
227. 8:20had been changed without the
228. 8:21documentation officials expected to see.
229. 8:24Eventually, the HOA settled the property
230. 8:27damage claim, paid the agreed
231. 8:29restoration costs, and accepted clear
232. 8:32restrictions on its use of the drainage
233. 8:34corridor. The settlement did not give me
234. 8:36ownership of the entire lake or every
235. 8:38drop of water. It established the
236. 8:40boundaries and obligations that the HOA
237. 8:43should have addressed before
238. 8:44construction.
239. 8:46My pasture was restored.
240. 8:48My access road was repaired, and the
241. 8:50disputed shoreline was moved back onto
242. 8:52HOA land. Months later, I stood beside
243. 8:55the completed lake from my own property
244. 8:57line. The water was beautiful. The
245. 9:00houses were expensive.
246. 9:02And Victoria still called it the crown
247. 9:04jewel of Silver Ridge, but she no longer
248. 9:06called my farm part of the project.
249. 9:09It's to protect your rights.
250. 9:11Preserve the evidence and let the truth
251. 9:13catch up with them.