CASTLE ROCK, Colo.—Eight Douglas County communities moved closer to the dustbin of history on Tuesday, but residents of two others vowed to go down fighting after Douglas County asked the state to declare their towns abandoned.
Secretary of State Mike Coffman said residents of Acequia, Lehigh, West Creek, Deckers, Greenland, Douglas, Huntsville and Russelville decided not to challenge the request to erase them from the list of official towns, but residents of Frankstown—also known as Franktown—hired an attorney to fight for them and residents of Louviers also objected. State officials tried to reassure residents the names would still be on the map.
Coffman, who held an abandonment hearing Tuesday, said it could take weeks for him to issue a ruling.
Louviers resident Tim Graf told Coffman he has lived in the town southwest of Denver for 37 years and raised his five children there. Graf said the government in Louviers, France, recently recognized his community as a sister city.
“The idea we don’t exist after we served the West for 100 years is preposterous. Douglas County has exceeded its sovereignty,” he told Coffman.
Coffman said the only measure of abandonment in state statutes is whether the town held an election during the past five years and whether officials performed government functions, such as passing a budget.
Residents of Franktown were split on whether Douglas County should control the fate of their community.
Mike Mullinnix said developers are trying to reorganize the original town of Frankstown because they want to build more houses and businesses. He said most residents want to preserve their rural community and they don’t want the town reorganized.
However, don’t look for Frankstown on a map. Because of a postal mistake 125 years ago, the community is now known as Franktown, which has further complicated the issue.
The issue wound up in court after town supporters tried to organize an election and wound up carving out a slice of state history. A judge ruled in June that they couldn’t reorganize because they never met state requirements to legally form a town in the 1800s.
Charles Free, an attorney representing town supporters, appealed the decision to the state Court of Appeals, noting that the state not only recognized Frankstown as a town, it declared it a county seat.
Myron Clark, the attorney representing Douglas County, said residents of Frankstown abdicated their responsibility because they failed to incorporate before July 3, 1877, and they failed hold a mayoral election as required by state law.
The court case is pending.
