Junk or treasure? In La Plata the situation is anything but clear – The Durango Herald
The locations of peaks 17 through 23 in the Weminuche Wilderness according to multiple sources. Peak 19 is still missing! (Image from Action Line/US Forest Service map)
Dear Action Line: At the top of Florida Road (La Plata County Road 240) are the remains of a business that was damaged by fire several years ago. It looks like people are now living there in the building and in cars and trailers. There is a lot of trash on the property. What county agency could solve this problem? – Jesper E. Itt
Dear Jesper, I’m sorry, but this answer will not make you feel any better.
The city of Durango could potentially take action if the incident occurred within city limits, but the county says that is not possible in this case.
The problem lies in a lack of enforcement capacity. There is no so-called “junk ordinance” in La Plata County’s land use and building code that could be used to enforce such a complaint. County officials say the county’s hands are tied without such an ordinance, which was rejected when the ordinance was revised in 2020.
For example, Delta and Mesa counties in western Colorado both have garbage ordinances. Delta’s ordinance prohibits “the accumulation of garbage (junk) within Delta County” and was passed in 2022.
Mesa’s law, passed in 2023, “prohibits the placement of junk in plain sight.” It states even more clearly: “Whereas there are a large number of property owners in Mesa County who store junk and garbage on their properties, endangering the health and safety of their neighbors…” It specifically defines junk as inoperable vehicles, unusable building materials, used appliances, and a list of items including manure. Yummy.
In La Plata County, the closest thing to a garbage ordinance is Sections 46-56 (Disposal of Garbage) and 46-57 (Unsecured Garbage, Trash or Waste Containers). Section 46-56 states that county residents must have a method of disposing of garbage “for garbage or dead animals generated on their property.” Section 46-57 addresses “unsecured garbage” that could attract wildlife. “In recent years,” states the section, passed in 1997, “human-wildlife conflicts involving these species have increased dramatically.”
These arguably outdated regulations make no mention of “trash” – useless and unsightly junk such as abandoned vehicles or refrigerators. However, if unsecured trash causes a “disturbance to wildlife,” for example, the county can issue a summons and complaint to resolve the matter.
Larry Foukas, La Plata County building inspector, said the county has handled similar complaints and has to explain, “One man’s treasure is another man’s trash.” And as for the people living there, in this particular case, the building is not in disrepair, even though it caught fire several years ago, and can still be used.
“We have contacted the owner … and he has no problem with the people living there,” Foukas said.
Weminuche in numbers
Local resident and mountaineer Turner Wyatt recently read Action Line’s column about why there are numbered peaks in the Weminuche Wilderness. Peaks One through Sixteen are found on official maps, but Peak Twelve is not. Twenty-three peaks in the Needles area were originally numbered by the San Juan Mountaineers nearly a century ago.
(Link to the story from August 14, 2023: https://tinyurl.com/mwwk55nv.)
Using the resource listsofjohn.com, another reader found Peak Twelve last year, nestled in its logical place between Eleven and Thirteen.
However, Wyatt went a step further. While writing a fictional short story and doing research, he used other websites, including peakbagger.com, to find more numbered Weminuche peaks. Action Line added a few more that Wyatt didn’t already have:
- Peak Seventeen, he noted, is commonly referred to as Little Finger and is 13,212 feet high. It lies right next to Peak Sixteen in the rugged Turret Needles.
- Peak Eighteen is a 13,473-foot mountain located almost due west of Windom Peak. It is one of the peaks that, along with the three Needles Fourteeners – Windom, Eolus, and Sunlight – surround the upper part of Needle Creek.
- Peak Twenty became Organ Mountain (13,040 feet), which lies directly north of Amherst Mountain.
- Peak Twenty One is the western summit of Emerson Mountain, south of Amherst. Wyatt said the 13,083-foot peak is commonly called Emerson Mountain West.
- Peak Twenty Two is commonly referred to as point 13105, Wyatt said. It lies between Emerson and Sheep mountains.
- Peak 23 became Sheep Mountain, 13,070 feet. Action Line’s unofficial and quick map check revealed it to be the southernmost thirteener in this line of peaks beginning in the Needles.
But oh no! Did you notice? Now Peak Nineteen is missing. Help!
Email questions and suggestions to [email protected] or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. One rumor has it that Peak Nineteen was seen on a bus to Mexico, but Action Line is skeptical. Wouldn’t a peak that high be better suited to Canada?
