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• • THE OLD RECORDER • Aug. I5. 1996 • Page 3 You're only cooking up trouble when you stew about tomorrow. Dispute erupts over road access by Sam Harsh A dispute over access to north Steamboat Valley Road is pitting residents against stone quarry owners. At issue is a section of the road that leads [o stone quarries north of town the[ one quarry owner claims has been aced by workers for more than f00 years. Neigh- bors say the road is only for pri- vate access [o their homes and are planning on purring up gates to keep quarry workers and tour- ists off of [rte private road. "The bottom line is, in every way shape or farm, This is a pri- vate road," Stephen Loos said. Loos is also President of the Steamboat Valley Road Home- owners Association. He and his wife Donna have lived for five yeah on a section of Steamboat Valley road they claim i s tr:'-ace. The Lodses and other ,,srcia- tion members met wrth Louk- onen brothers Stone quarry owners Mike and Leonard Loukonen in 4larch [o discuss problems with quarry truck-~ us- ing the road to haul strnte. The meeting was called after quarry employces repaired sec- tions of the road to improve q»arry access. Members of [he homeowners association 'were angered [hat the improvemrnts were made without their permis- sion. At the meeting, the LouYonens appazendy agreed not to use rho road for [tuck traffic but have continued to use it for employee access. Mike Loukonen, vice presi- dent and general manager of Loukonen Brothers Scone, said the road haz been used for quarry access on a daily basis long be- fore any residents moved to [he area. "There has been a semblance of a road there for a hundred years," Loukonen said, but added that the roue has been changed over the years, "I think everyone should have a say in how i[ gets used but they want [o close off access to the end of the road," he said. Loukonen does not dispute that the road is private or that many unauthorized people use the road, buf said he and his workers have the same private access rights az other property owners along the road. He doesn't have a problem with gates on the road as long is be has a key. During the March meeting w[th the homeowners associa- tion, Loukonen said he even of- fered to help maintain the road but has heard no response so far. He said the problems began when a Loukonen quany em- ployee decided without permis- sion to haul stone down Steam- boat Valley Road instead of No- lan Road through Stone Canyon. Tha[ employee has since ban tertninazed, Loukonen said. Bu[ Loos said, after the road was improved by the Louk- onens, smae tn[cks used the road at a rate of one every half hour. Since there are several quarries in the area, it is not cleaz which quarry's rocks are using the road. The dispute came to a boiling poin[ several weeks ago when Steamboat Valley Road resident Dallas Maurer reportedly used his truck to block Pablo Vasquez- who owns another quarto in the area Police Chief Tom McGrath responded to the confronta[ion and eventually re- ferred the problem [o the county attorney's office. _. Assistant County Attorney Leslie Lacy advised McGrath that the road is private and Nere- fore not a county issue. How- ever, if it can be proven that the road has been used publicly for 18 years or more, it could b< declared a public road, Lacy said. McGrath said he would like to have official real es[ate docu- mentaoon on file declaring the road private before gates are in- stalled so he has official au[hor- iry toenforce limited access. Members of [he homeowners association also conducted their own research showing the road co be private. They said the Loukonen quarry permrt stares that access to dte quarry should be gained via Stone Canyon and Nolan Road. They also found a 1985 court case -Rick and Gayle Altobellis vs. the Board of County Commissioners -that declares the road to be private. The Looses said another quarry owner, Neil Sprague, and a longtime resident, Hans Han- sen, bui]t large portions of the road years ago az access to their properties. The section leading up to the quarry was nothing more than a jeep trail until the Loukonens improved it, they said. Loukonen said the Nolan Road access becomes slippery and dangerous during winter months because sections of it are on a northern hillside and not ex- posed to the sun. Loos said the homeowners az- sociation has been responsible for maintaining a portion of Steamboat Valley road and resi- denrshave split the costs of other maintenance. ~. 's K