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Contact7 getting results after Castle Rock neighbors battle construction mess

Posted at 5:55 PM, Jan 10, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-10 21:31:13-05

Editor's note: Contact7 seeks out audience tips and feedback to help people in need, resolve problems and hold the powerful accountable. If you know of a community need our call center could address, or have a story idea for our investigative team to pursue, please email us at contact7@thedenverchannel.com or call (720) 462-7777. Find more Contact7 stories here.

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- Contact7 is getting results for a community in need of a deep clean.

Neighbors understand that living in a construction zone comes with issues, but streets lined with beer cans and metal sheets flying in the wind was not what they bargained for.

Homeowners in Castle Rock's Terrain neighborhood tell Contact7 they have complained time and again, but nothing has changed, until one of them reached out to Contact7.

It seemed like a perfect neighborhood for walking dogs, with plenty of sidewalks and open space. And then Tim Rod walks out his front door.

"We bought this house directly from the builder in August. This particular site here has homes between $500,000-700,000," he said walking his St. Bernards and pointing to shards of broken glass in the open space across the street. "That's going to hurt somebody. We've got nails, insulation, candy wrappers."

He said he knew he was buying in a construction zone (about a third of the homes are still being built), but he and other neighbors tell Contact7 they did not expect the piles of trash (beer cans and liquor bottles), dumpsters blocking sidewalks, and dangerous construction debris blowing around.

"My wife was recently hit by a piece of metal," said Rod, who said after months of complaining, the builder, D.R. Horton has stopped responding. "It wears you down to just be frustrated every single day and just feel like you can’t do anything about it."

D.R. Horton would not speak on camera or respond to specific questions, but sent a statement to Contact7: "We are addressing these concerns and strive to maintain our high standards moving forward."

On Friday morning, crews started to pick up trash and debris and Town of Castle Rock officials were seen monitoring the site.

"We’re definitely keeping after it," said Bill Detweiler, the Director of Development Services for the Town of Castle Rock, who said the Town has been working with the builder for months to clean up debris and get trucks and dumpsters off sidewalks. "I think they were responsive, but I would offer that there are some things that we are continuing to work with them on."

Meanwhile, Tim Rod saw the clean-up crews and received a phone call from D.R. Horton Friday morning promising to correct issues in the future.

"This looks better," said Rod looking at the field across from his house. "I have seen more of a response from D.R. than I have since the very beginning of when we were trying to get this fixed. Our intent isn’t to punish anybody — all we really want to do is live in the neighborhood in a peaceful way and being able to walk the dog on the sidewalk of the community that we live in."