SIDE STREETS: Even the Grim Reaper can't escape HOA or code enforcement

Some neighborhood disputes never end . . . even when you die, as these two updates of previous columns shows.

That’s certainly true in the case of Cynthia Van Wormer, whose home-based bird breeding business continues even though she died April 14. And because dozens of birds remain, the Woodmoor Improvement Association is pursuing its covenant violations, including its $25 per day fine and lawsuit, against her husband, Thomas Van Wormer.

In an unrelated case, the death May 11 of Josie Trujillo will not mean the end of the city’s efforts to bring her Cragmor home up to code. But the city won’t be going to court against her estate any time soon.

First the case of the Van Wormers, who have been the focus of a long-running neighborhood dispute for breeding animals in their home overlooking the 17th green of the Woodmoor Pines Golf and Country Club.

Howling wolf hybrids, squawking birds and fighting and screaming dogs led to dozens of complaints registered with the WIA, the sheriff and the county code enforcers. The Van Wormers carried on even though animal breeding, rescue shelters and retail sales of exotic animals are illegal in their area of the county and banned by WIA covenants.

The Van Wormers won a reprieve in January when the El Paso County Commission ignored state law and its own codes and adopted a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Smell” policy toward their Rocky Mountain Bird Farm & Pet Supply business.

The WIA — the homeowners association for Woodmoor, a neighborhood of 3,000 homes on unincorporated land near Monument — proceeded with its own legal action.

Since Jan. 1, the Van Wormers are being fined $25 fine every day until the business is removed. That’s in addition to another $1,600 they owe the WIA for legal fees after the Van Wormers filed a restraining order in October.

WIA president Chuck Maher had hoped the dispute might be resolved after Cynthia Van Wormer died. But the two sides were back in court last week and the case is headed to trial.

“Tom plans to continue the business that meant so much to Cynthia,” Van Wormer said in a notice printed last month in the Kiwanis Club of Monument Hill newsletter. He declined to talk to me about the case.

Then there’s the sad case of Josie Trujillo, whose house became the poster child for blight after her life spun wildly out of control. In 1999, arson destroyed her home and  her insulation business, which she operated from her garage. Josie and her three children were homeless.

Her neighbors were left with an eyesore.

Last month, I found Josie at the house. After raising her kids and struggling with poor health, she had turned her attention to her house. The exterior looked great and she was starting on the charred interior.

But a few days later, Josie, 45, was dead.

“We’ll keep checking on it,” said Ken Lewis, code enforcement administrator. “But it will be in limbo for a while. Probably until someone has the money to finish the job or just put it up for sale.”

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