I Have A Dream - Mold scraped off edition

Race-restrictive covenant only

Stanley Heights:  For Stanley Heights, whose plat became available in 1948 on the last page of a document recorded in Book 864/Page 192 (no official plat for Stanley Heights was ever placed on record with the Larimer County Clerk and Recorder), there are 54 numbered lots (1 to 54).  I cannot locate lot 24 on this plat, meaning it may have been skipped in the numbering of lots, or I may have a poor copy of the plat.  The street names that correspond to the Stanley Heights neighborhood are East Lane, West Lane, North Lane, and South Lane.  It is possible that other private lanes or thoroughfares or entrance roads to properties exist in Stanley Heights not included in this list of street names.  I suppose it is also possible for people not living in Stanley Heights proper to have a street address which includes one of these street names.  It is possible, and quite likely, that lots have been consolidated since 1948.  Given the large size of each lot (~3 acres) it is also quite likely some of the lots have been subdivided, so that currently fewer than or greater than the original number of lots platted in 1948 exist.  In any event, there are potentially approx. 53 different property owners within Stanley Heights impacted by a race-restricted covenant.

Fort Morgan Colony:  The first plat for Fort Morgan Colony (often referred to as the Fort Morgan Outing Club or Fort Morgan Outing Club company) was recorded in 1911, but only in 1935 was a plat recorded corresponding for the most part to the plat entered into record when Fort Morgan Colony was annexed to the town of Estes Park in 1958.  This plat has 36 discrete numbered lots (1 to 36) plus a lot “B” and a lot “12A”, for 38 total lots.  As with Stanley Heights, lots may have been consolidated or subdivided since 1958, so that currently fewer than or greater than the original number of lots platted in 1958 exist.  But the working number of potentially approx. 38 different property owners within Stanley Heights impacted by a race-restricted covenant will be used going forward.  Fort Morgan Colony street addresses include Morgan Street, North Morgan Street, and Morgan Lane.  As with Stanley Heights, there may be other private lanes or thoroughfares or entrance roads to Fort Morgan Colony lots not included in this list of street names, and there will be people not living in Fort Morgan Colony proper with a street address including one of these street names, for example, those living along the first 100+ yards of Morgan Street from its "origin" off Highway 7.

Race-restrictive and religion-restrictive covenants 

Davis Hill:  The Buenna [sic] Vista Terrace subdivision was first platted in 1911, but not until 1946 was the entire Davis Hill landform subdivided as Buenna [sic] Vista Terrace first resubdivision.  The plat includes 51 discrete numbered lots plus 17 lots with the designation “NA”, where N is a number between 1 and 17, and 13 lots with the designation “NB”, where N is a number between 4 and 16.  The total number of potential property owners is thus 51 + 17 + 13 = 81, although it seems likely the number of actual property owners is less because many of the lots are too small to be of much use as individual lots (plus some of the lots along Moraine Avenue have since been turned into town-owned parking areas), with the purchase of multiple adjacent lots making more business sense or providing more room for a cabin/house or livable size.  Street names in the Davis Hill neighborhood include Courtney Lane, Davis Street, Lookout Street, Lott Street, Mountain View Lane, and Westview Lane, as well as the business block of Moraine Avenue from 135 Moraine Avenue to 351 Moraine Avenue (plus, interestingly, because section lines are straight even though Moraine Avenue is curved, the Donut Haus on the opposite side of the street at 342 Moraine Avenue), although this neighborhood is so old and so spread out it is possible additional private lanes or thoroughfares not included on this list allow entrance to dwelling units.  Because Davis Hill is relatively self-contained, however, it seems unlikely a resident whose street address includes one of these street names lives anywhere other than in the Davis Hill neighborhood.

Stanley Heights Addition B:  The Stanley Heights addition to Stanley Heights is just south of Stanely Heights proper, and the plat was entered into record in 1945 when this addition was annexed to the town of Estes Park (interestingly, Stanley Heights proper still is outside of Estes Park town limits).  There are 32 discrete numbered lots (1 to 32) in the addition, and the street names comprising the addition neighborhood are relatively straightforward:  Summit Drive, Panorama Circle, and Otis Lane.  It seems unlikely other private drives or thoroughfares not on this list are attached to residents of the Stanley Heights addition (I suppose potentially one could enter a Stanley Heights addition residence from Big Thompson Avenue, although I see no evidence for this), as well, it is hard for me to understand how anyone with one of these street names in their street address lives other than in the Stanley Heights addition.  These lots are one acre in size – it is still possible lots have been subdivided or consolidated over time, but a working number of 32 different property owners seems reasonable.

Total Estes Park property owners impacted by race-restrictive and/or religion-restrictive covenants:  At the high end, 53 + 38 + 81 + 32 = 204 individuals, couples, or families in Estes Park could live on properties with discriminatory covenants.  This seems to be an overestimate, based on previously-noted limiting factors in the various neighborhoods, and so at the low end, half of this number, or 102 individual, couples, or families may own property impacted by discriminatory covenants, which is likely an underestimate.

I believe, even given the ease and inexpensiveness of extinguishing these encumbrances based on free distribution of the “fix-it kit”, it will be a major accomplishment if 25% of the low-end estimate of affected properties, or 26 individuals, couples, or families, take advantage of this opportunity and actually file this document with the Larimer County clerk and recorder over the ensuing year.  If 26 property owners from the four neighborhoods (an average of 6-7 property owners per neighborhood) did submit this document by the end of calendar year 2018, it would actually be cause for a newspaper article “celebrating” this fact.  Anything above this number would be nothing short of a miracle, and would only result from a respected property owner or owners within the neighborhood taking this up as a “cause”.

Impediments for filing will come from (1) a belief that these restrictions were already removed in the past by a now-defunct homeowners association or “club”, or the covenants written with “timed expirations”, despite a lack of evidence of same, (2) reluctance to spend any money or effort recording something essentially “nullified” by federal and state laws, (3) peer-pressure exerted by “experts” in the neighborhood who view everything coming from the outside as “government conspiracy”, and (4) simple torpor and/or indifference.  A number of summer residents in these neighborhoods simply wish to be left alone.

It should also be acknowledged that a certain number of property owners may actually be desirous of keeping these covenants unmodified in the permanent record, thinking this “exclusivity” adds to property values or is their last stand against erosion of beliefs inculcated by their parents or a particular political indoctrination or the stance of their favorite radio broadcaster.