Colorado residents worry about fate of Palizzi Farms after Brighton grants eminent domain for drainage system development

When Brighton residents think of Palizzi Farms, it's more than just the fresh produce, fresh flowers and trinkets inside the shop that come to mind.

"I used to come here for 40 years. We'd drive from Denver. I'd bring my kids," said Faye Hummel. "It's been a really special place to us, for us for a very long time."

"My sister and I used to walk past the farm on our way to school, and we'd hear the frogs croak in the springtime in their irrigation ditches," said Tammy Smith. "In the fall, we would smell the smell of chilis roasting, and it (was) part of the fabric that we didn't realize we took for granted."

Even on a Friday afternoon, when CBS Colorado stopped by the farm, dozens of people could be seen shopping inside the store, picking out flowers inside the greenhouse, or just chatting it up with the property's owner. The Palizzi family have been growing on this property for nearly 100 years.

"To think of this being under threat or pressure is absolutely untenable to me," said Smith.

Brighton residents like Smith have been pushing back since learning the city of Brighton gave eminent domain for Parkland Metropolitan District No. 1 to install an underground water drainage system on part of the farm's land for new housing development south of Bromley Lane.

"I didn't know anything about it until I saw the signs and then started to read it on Nextdoor," said Hummel.

A website called Save Palizzi Farm claims a proposed permanent easement, which would extend across the farm for the drainage, will disrupt the 2024 farm season on the land and eventually make the area unfarmable.

Dozens of residents reached out directly to CBS Colorado expressing similar concerns and frustrations over the project.

"The fact is that they would have to bring in heavy machinery, heavy equipment to accomplish what they're trying to do with the drainage," said Smith. "They've worked these fields for so many years and they've worked on the health of the soil. Heavy equipment is bad for the health of the soil."

CBS Colorado has been trying to reach out to Parkland Metropolitan District No. 1 for comment for several weeks about the drainage system but have not heard back. A spokesperson for the city says it is a regional stormwater conveyance that will benefit Brighton residents and has been planned as a necessary improvement for at least four decades.

It is our understanding that the conveyance will consist of an underground pipe and necessary appurtenances. We expect that the developer will complete construction after the harvest season and before the 2025 planting season. 

Despite concerns from residents who visit Palizzi Farms, when city leaders first heard plans for the project and voted on issuing eminent domain back in September 2023, one council member asked developers whether Palazzi Farms would be impacted.

"I want a clear answer. Once this is done, can they farm that land. Yes or no," said Brighton City Council Member Matt Johnson.

"Yes they'll be able to farm over top of the pipe," said a spokesperson for the plan.

However, residents say they remain skeptical about the process and ask for city and developers to work with them on a different solution.

"I hope to express the fact that we are community, and we will support our own and we will not go quietly," said Smith. "Work with the landowner rather than against them and let's be smarter about this."

Several residents tell me they plan to be at a hearing Monday, May 13 at 9:00 a.m. at the Adams County courthouse where they worry a judge will grant easement in order to build this drainage system.

The owner of the property spoke with CBS Colorado in person today but declined to provide comment on concerns over the project until after Monday's hearing.