RFTA going to court with tire store over wall

A dispute between the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority and the owner of Alpine Tire Co. in Glenwood Springs about adverse impacts of a wall, constructed along with a parking lot as part of the bus rapid transit expansion on the tire companys property is going to trial.

According to a complaint filed on Aug. 28, 2013, in Garfield County District Court by property owner Michael Sos, the load-bearing wall is located in very close proximity to his property line and depends on his property for its support, without which support the wall would fail.

The document stated that the location of the wall and an earthen bank abutting Sos property subjects it to the likelihood of inundation and invasion of significant drainage waters and debris, rendering portions of the lot totally unusable, and constituting an unlawful taking of his property, or inverse condemnation on the value of his lot.

The property in question is next to the South Glenwood 27th Street park-and-ride facility along South Glen Avenue, where a wall of tires, which has been the subject of much speculation, has recently been erected.

Sos, who has owned his property for 25 years, said the tire wall has dual purposes in that it gives Alpine a place to store its tires, and it helps keep people, including RFTA employees, from parking in his lot.

Our parking lot has become their parking lot, Sos said Friday, adding that RFTA was also supposed to put trees and other landscaping as a barrier between the two properties, but still hasnt complied.

Another wall of tires goes across the backside (east) of the lot that was put in place after commuters had made a path down the steep dirt bank, and Sos saw people slipping and falling down it.

Aspen attorney Paul Taddune, who is representing RFTA, said Friday that the transit company has made efforts at remediation in the case, but no resolutions have taken hold.

He said that Sos had no objections to the wall being built in 2013, but felt it was a problem only after its completion.

But Sos contends that he told the transit company about these issues before the parking structure was built, and said his letters were ignored.

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RFTA going to court with tire store over wall