‘We’re gonna fight’: Colorado woman says she went ‘to war’ when county tried to claim her private property

Editor's note: This is the 3rd and last communicative successful a bid astir Taralyn Romero's spot rights conflict successful Kittredge, Colorado. Read portion 1 and part 2.

Dozens of aggravated residents filed into a assemblage religion for a municipality hall-style meeting, demanding to cognize erstwhile they would erstwhile again beryllium capable to aquatics and play successful Bear Creek.

Taralyn Romero, who had strung a enactment crossed her spot enactment to artifact entree to the beloved creek, was the astir hated idiosyncratic successful the room.

"Public outcry was astatine an implicit high," Romero said of the May 2022 meeting. "I could consciousness that occupation was brewing."

Two months later, the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners sued Romero, alleging the government, not Romero, owned the sandy formation connected the northbound broadside of Bear Creek.

In aboriginal 2021, Taralyn Romero moved to Kittredge, Colorado, an unincorporated assemblage astir 30 minutes extracurricular of Denver with conscionable implicit 1,300 residents. Her location sat connected a steep elevation with a creek winding done the onshore beneath it. She says a spot survey showed the creek and formation connected either broadside were portion of her backyard. (Logan Lee Anthony for Fox News Digital)

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"I was conscionable similar immoderate different homebuyer, right? I was fortunate capable to bargain a property, to rise a family, to beryllium successful an country that I wanted to beryllium in. And present they were trying to instrumentality it from me," she said.

Romero's conflict with her neighbors and, ultimately, her section government, began successful aboriginal 2021 erstwhile she bought a location successful the tiny municipality of Kittredge, Colorado. Her backyard included a steep elevation and, below, a creek ran done the borderline of the property. A assemblage parkland sat connected the different side.

Locals had played successful the creek for decades, but Romero said a survey of the spot showed the onshore connected either broadside of the h2o belonged to her.

"I bought a location with a creek moving done the backyard. That's what was advertised to me," she said. "And connected rule alone, I wasn't going to fto them rip it from my hands."

As hostilities betwixt the townsfolk and Romero boiled implicit into in-person confrontations, Romero said she tried to negociate with the region to lease the information of her onshore successful question, oregon travel to immoderate different solution that would person allowed the assemblage to entree the creek portion besides respecting her rights.

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Instead, Jefferson County asked a justice to assistance the authorities rights implicit the land.

The region archetypal argued that the creek itself was the bound betwixt the park, created successful 1986, and the spot adjacent to it. The parkland included everything to the northbound of the creek and Romero owned the onshore to the south, they alleged.

"Bear Creek has dilatory meandered southbound from its people implicit clip and lies southbound of wherever it was erstwhile the ineligible descriptions were primitively created," the suit reads.

Romero and her attorneys argued that the existent determination of Bear Creek was not intended to beryllium the property, and that the deed ties the bound to a map, not the water.

Now we tin conscionable spell to warfare and I don't person to unreal anymore.

Regardless of existent spot lines, the July 2022 suit argued the onshore should spell to the region based connected the doctrine of adverse possession. Since the assemblage had enjoyed entree to the spot for much than 35 years without immoderate ailment from erstwhile owners, the region said nationalist entree should beryllium allowed to continue.

Romero said successful immoderate ways the suit was "such a relief." 

"Now we tin conscionable spell to war, and I don't person to unreal anymore," she said. "I said, 'We're gonna combat for this, due to the fact that owning spot successful this state is synonymous with the pursuit of happiness.'"

And Romero had an service of TikTok followers connected her side. Her handle, "Wicked Witch of the West," poked amusive astatine the mode Kittredge residents viewed her. Her abbreviated videos astir the spot quality racked up millions of views. 

People from each implicit the satellite wrote emails to the region commissioners and flooded the comments conception of the section parks department's Facebook page, Romero said.

Hundreds logged successful to virtual municipality hallway meetings to amusement their enactment for the pistillate who had truthful often recovered herself without immoderate allies.

"That nationalist unit perfectly influenced the government," Romero said.

Taralyn Romero started a TikTok page, sharing videos astir her onshore conflict and confrontations with radical who believed the creek was — oregon astatine slightest should beryllium — nationalist property. One video unsocial has amassed much than 4.5 cardinal views. (Taralyn Romero/TikTok)

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Romero yet settled with the region past year, selling a information of her backyard with the creek and formation for $250,000. The region enactment up a obstruction and signage on the caller spot line.

A enactment stretches implicit the water, intelligibly separating the broadside families are escaped to play successful from the broadside that runs done backstage land.

Jefferson County's lawyer declined to remark connected the suit oregon its outcome.

Romero's acquisition changed her "entire presumption of our justness strategy and of our government," she said.

"I ne'er thought for a 2nd that was each the facts connected my side, I would inactive beryllium astatine hazard of losing everything," she said, adding that she was shocked by the hypocrisy of galore residents.

"When it came to my property, they're like, ‘You should share,’" Romero said. "'And if you don't privation to share, the authorities should unit you to stock done prescriptive easement.' … But erstwhile it comes to their property, you cognize they're going to freak retired if you're an inch implicit connected their obstruction line."

Families tin present play connected the formation and successful Bear Creek adjacent to Kittredge Park aft Romero and Jefferson County settled their lawsuit. (Logan Lee Anthony for Fox News Digital)

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With her ain conflict down her, Romero present uses TikTok to advocator for different people's property rights and freedoms. Recently, she posted respective teary videos astir the New York raid that ended successful the euthanasia of a pet squirrel, calling it "outrageous" and a premier illustration of "how wildly retired of equilibrium the powers of power are" successful America.

She inactive hasn't forgiven each of her neighbors though.

"If I could accidental thing to the radical who lied done their teeth and who conspired against maine to instrumentality what I bought just and quadrate … I would say, ‘Shame connected you,’" Romero said. "'What you enactment retired into the world, you get back. And bully luck, due to the fact that it was hell.'"