Taralyn Romero’s Kittredge Settlement: $250K, Park Access, TikTok

Taralyn Romero’s Kittredge settlement with Jefferson County, Colorado, closed in December 2023: she received $250,000 and transferred 0.099 acres of her backyard along Bear Creek to the county, where it was folded into Kittredge Park.¹²

How the Backyard Became Contested

Romero and her fiancé Michael Eymer bought the 0.68-acre home in Kittredge in 2021. The property backs onto Bear Creek and sits next to Kittredge Park, and for roughly 35 years before the sale the previous owners had allowed the public to walk through and use the creek area. None of that history was disclosed to the buyers.³

Romero initially let visitors keep coming. The numbers grew — as many as 55 people in her yard on a single day — along with trash, damage to trees and the creek bank, and worry about her own liability if someone was hurt on the land.⁴⁵ When she posted “no trespassing” signs, neighbors began confronting her in person and online, and she was labeled the “Wicked Witch of the West.”

The County’s Legal Claim

In July 2022, the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners sued Romero. The county’s theory was that Bear Creek marked the boundary between the park and the parcel, but the creek had migrated south over the years, so the land north of the current creek bed — the strip visitors had been using — should belong to the park through adverse possession. The county pointed to its ongoing maintenance and the public’s recreational use since Kittredge Park was completed in 1986.⁶⁴ As an alternative, the county sought a prescriptive easement that would preserve public access even if title stayed with Romero.⁷

Romero relied on a 1920 survey map that placed the disputed land inside her parcel.⁶ The complaint also accused her of “aggression and intimidation towards park visitors and children,” which she denied.⁴

Going Public on TikTok

Romero adopted the “Wicked Witch” label her neighbors had thrown at her and documented the case on TikTok, sharing what she called “receipts” — screenshots and documents meant to counter the county’s version of events.⁸ Her followers began writing and calling Jefferson County commissioners directly. Romero later credited that pressure, and the national media attention, with pushing the county toward a settlement rather than a trial.¹

She has since cautioned that the approach is not for most disputes. Posting during active litigation, she said, places an “incredible burden” on the litigant to avoid saying something that can be used against them, and in ordinary neighbor fights a viral audience is more likely to hurt than help.⁸

What the Settlement Says

The agreement was reached in May 2023 and finalized in December 2023 after review by the Jefferson County Open Space Advisory Committee.¹² Its main terms:

Jefferson County paid Romero $250,000.
Romero transferred 0.099 acres of her property to the county — by her own account, roughly 40% of her backyard.
The transferred parcel was incorporated into Kittredge Park, managed by the Evergreen Park and Recreation District.

After the December 2023 transfer, EPRD moved from leasing Kittredge Park to owning it outright. Its 2024 annual report described the change as the product of “multiple settlements” between Jefferson County Open Space and local landowners aimed at resolving decades of unclear boundaries along Bear Creek, indicating Romero’s case was not the only one.⁹ By March 2024, Romero had built a fence along the new property line, separating her remaining yard from the public beach area.¹

The Pacific Legal Foundation, a property-rights litigation group, later characterized the result as Romero being “forced to settle and split the baby.”¹⁰

The Separate Suit Against the Sellers

The Jefferson County settlement did not resolve Romero’s claims against the people who sold her the house. She filed a separate lawsuit against the previous owners alleging fraud and failure to disclose both the long-running public use of the creek area and the government’s competing claim to the land. That case went to mediation and settled on confidential terms, with the former owners issuing a public apology as part of the resolution.³

What Romero Has Done Since

Romero has stayed active in property-rights advocacy, using her TikTok following to publicize other homeowners’ disputes with local governments under the slogan “Bang the drum, change the outcome.” She has amplified cases including a San Antonio bar owner facing eminent domain near the Alamo and a quadriplegic homeowner in Gilbert, Arizona, fighting a rezoning and right-of-way demand.¹¹ As of August 2025, she works in partnership with the Pacific Legal Foundation, with PLF handling litigation and Romero handling public attention.¹⁰

1
CBS News Colorado. Self-Proclaimed Wicked Witch of Colorado Gets New Property Lines
2
Jefferson County. Open Space Advisory Committee Meeting
3
Realtor.com. Colorado Dream Home Creek War
4
BuzzFeed News. Bear Creek Dispute TikTok Controversy
5
Fox News. Woman Bought Dream House With Creek, Community Turned It Into Living Nightmare
6
9News. Colorado Homeowner Blocks Bear Creek Access
7
Law Week Colorado. Colorado Court Case Goes Viral on TikTok
8
Law Week Colorado. What Happens When a Case Goes Viral
9
Evergreen Park and Recreation District. 2024 Annual Report
10
Pacific Legal Foundation. Colorado Homeowner Dubbed Wicked Witch of the West for Protecting Her Property Rights
11
Pacific Legal Foundation. The Wicked Witch of the West Is Banging the Drum for Property Rights