LAKEWOOD —The fight over 10 acres of land next to Lakewood’s Hutchinson Park could be headed to trial.
A Nov. 4 trial date has been set in the quiet title action involving the city of Lakewood, Jeffco Public Schools and area residents to determine the rightful ownership of the property at 2090 S. Wright St.
All three parties have asked Jefferson County District Judge Margie Enquist for summary judgment, hoping to eliminate the need for the trial. But after a nearly 3½-hour hearing Oct. 21, Enquist said she would not rule from the bench on summary judgment, as some had expected, and warned that the matter may have to go to trial.
Enquist had not issued a ruling on summary judgment or the need for a trial as of presstime.
“There’s a whole lot of blanks in this case,” Enquist said Oct. 21.
The dispute over 2090 S. Wright St. — 10 acres of open land adjacent to Hutchinson Park — has been roiling for more than a year, since the school district proposed selling the land to one of its charter schools for the construction of a new school building.
The Rocky Mountain Deaf School initially received approval from the Lakewood City Council for its project in June 2012. But the council later rescinded the rezoning in September 2012 after opponents collected almost 6,000 signatures to force a possible citywide vote. The school district also asked the city to overturn the approval.
The school district, the titleholder as now recorded, filed a quiet title action in August 2012 after ownership questions arose during the rezoning process. The city disclaimed any ownership in the property that same month.
In April, the HBG Neighborhood and Community Organization, along with eight area residents, were allowed by Judge Enquist to join the case as intervenors and argue that the land does belong to the city and as part of Hutchinson Park.
At the heart of the dispute is what did or did not happen during the neighborhood’s initial development in the 1970s.
In 1973, the city approved an official development plan for the area that called for “a minimum of 10 acres of land” to be donated to the city for possible use by the Jefferson County School District for an elementary school, according to court records.
If the land was not used for a school within eight years, though, the land was to revert to the city for “municipal purposes.”
In 1977, however, the developer deeded the 10 acres of land directly to the school district, in conflict of what was laid out in the development plan, according to records.
Earlier that same year, a deed for 37 acres of land — the 10 acres under scrutiny plus the 26 of today’s Hutchinson Park — was delivered to the city but never officially recorded. The city later received a separate deed for the 26 acres, which it accepted and recorded, according to court documents.
Residents have argued that the development plan still binds the 10 acres — requiring the land to go to the city for park use — and question the validity of the school district’s deed both because of the earlier deed and what they believe was a common-law dedication to the city.
The city and the school district, however, argue that the city has no right to reversion because it never accepted ownership of the property and because the development plan does not convey any ownership rights in the first place.
At the Oct. 21 hearing, Judge Enquist peppered the city and school district with questions, much more than were asked of the residents’ attorney.
Enquist also strongly criticized the city and school district for submitting to the court an altered copy of one of the titles and representing it as authentic.
The resident-intervenors have asked for sanctions.
Emilie Rusch: 303-954-2457, erusch@denverpost.com or
