HOMEOWNER GOES TO WAR WITH SMALL TOWN AFTER FENCING OFF A BEACH

Taralyn Romero bought land with a creek and beach on it that neighbors used
She went to war with the locals and the county to try and maintain her privacy
Romero sold part of the land for $250,000 and was allowed to fence off the rest

A Colorado woman is embracing the nickname of 'Wicked Witch of the West' after she battled with her small town over fencing off a beach that was next to her land and drew tons of visitors.

Taralyn Romero, 43, bought a home next to Kittredge Park in the Colorado town of Kittredge.

The land was a total of .68 acres and had a creek running through her yard, a huge part of the charm for Romero.

Her family loved it but hated the dozens of people, including children, who would show up every day at the creek.

'For a long time, the community really had the narrative of me being a wicked witch who hates kids and wants them off her property,' Romero said.

She admitted that the owns it and calls herself the infamous, Oz-inspired moniker now and even uses it as her TikTok account, where she advocates for property rights.

The people she bought the property from had a quiet agreement to let whomever wanted to use the creek hang out, to the point that most assumed it was part of Kittredge Park.

The land officially belongs to Romero and her fiance, according to surveys done on the property.

'We have 55 people with families, dogs, tents, coolers, grills, beach umbrellas, towels, six-packs. It had turned into a water park,' she said.

Romero said she was often treated cruelly on the internet and in person for hanging on to what was legally hers.

'When you get that kind of dissension on whose land is it and you involve children and you involve rhetoric of a screaming lady, it really was like wildfire for social media,' she told CBS News.

It got so ridiculous that the haters began to commit vandalism in the name of wanting to use the land.

'They were incredibly abusive to me verbally, and abusive to the land. Sometimes they were bringing out metal shovels and literally destroying the creek bank, they were breaking trees, leaving trash,' Romero said.

She chose to put barriers around the land herself to keep guests from using the creek.

''Even if it is her land, take it from her' and they did, well they tried,' she explained.

Jefferson County - where Kittredge and the land are located - decided to take Romero to court.

They attempted to cite the lengthy history of the public using the land and something known as 'adverse possession' laws to get the land from Romero.

Romero used her 'Real Wicked Witch of the West' TikTok to drum up support from people who sympathized.

'They were writing the commissioners, they were making phone calls, and they were truly standing with me in a battle to keep my property,' Romero said.

Romero settled with the county in May of 2023, with a fence being built to officially delineate where her land extended to.

'Although I was ready to go to Supreme Court, I had to weigh my family life, I had to weigh financial hardship,' Romero said.

Romero gave up 0.099 acres of the land to the county in exchange for a $250,000 payout.

'At the end of the day, I said 'you know what, let's split this baby.''

The fence was built this past January and the land outside the fence is now managed by the local parks department.

She said that a teenager has attempted to hop the fence recently but it has quieted things down.

'Hopefully that's the last of it. But unfortunately, I think we're going to have another summer of people trying to push the boundary and getting triggered by a fence,' Romero said.

Her next step is a lawsuit against the people she bought the home from for not disclosing the history of use of the land.

'Yes, I'm ready to put it behind me but not before I seek some accountability in the courts for the people who sold me my home,' Romero said.

Their court mediation is set for later this month.

2024-05-05T22:55:57Z dg43tfdfdgfd