This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Imagine settling on the location and style of your dream home. After submitting the deposit and celebrating with your pregnant wife, you'd feel overjoyed, correct? Well, not for one Longmont family who completed these steps then learned that their "forever" home would be located next door to a gravel mining pit.
According to the anonymous man, who posted his frustration on Reddit, he and his wife were planning on spending $500,000 on their home. But then, they learned about the development of a mining pit less than 300 feet away.
City of Longmont documents reveal the official plans for a gravel pit mining operation. It’s slated to begin as early as 2020 across the street from the Harvest Junction neighborhood. The development is being managed by Richmond-Meritage Homes.
The disgruntled local wrote:
“My wife and I contracted a new home at the new housing development in Harvest Junction. See Meritage or Richmond Homes at 153 Western Sky Circle. Everything seemed great, but the green space to the East of the development had me worried. The Longmont government website mentioned it as PUD or Mixed Neighborhood in future plans. I emailed the city planner for additional details and received the Irwin Thomas Final PUD Development Plan that outlines the attached picture of gravel mines less than 200 yards from the development!”
After contacting Aggregate Industries, the company responsible for the mining, he learned that the operation will be permitted for the next 10 years. Per state policy, the developer would have been given the plan when it was approved in November 2018. Though this man felt the developer should have informed the family of the mining operation, this wasn’t the case.
“They gave you a lot of information about parks nearby, all the amenities, the school nearby. But, this was not disclosed in any way,” the anonymous man told CBS4 during an interview. On Reddit, he added: “If this was disclosed, we would have not signed in the first place and this information took weeks of research to uncover.”
Furthermore, the developer refused to return the deposit because they said the contract included a clause indicating that mineral rights “may or may not” be nearby.
By the time the family learned of the mining pit operation, the design phase (selecting carpet, counters, paint, and more) had already been completed. Nonetheless, they canceled the home’s contract due to concerns about health and noise pollution. Reportedly, other homeowners are following suit.
“I understand I am not getting my money back from the purchase. I am okay with that,” said the man. “I just want to let people know, and let them make the decision if they want to live by this,” states the anonymous man.
The Longmont Observer called Richmond-Heritage Homes for comment on the story. No official response has yet been received from the builder.
