Debbie Palizzi is most comfortable digging in the dirt, but she braved an intimidating courtroom to fight for her historic family farm Monday. 

The unfamiliar territory was necessary in her effort stop a developer from installing a stormwater pipeline four-4-to-5 feet under the soil of her 20-acre farm.

Palizzi told a Brighton judge that if a stormwater pipeline is dug on her century-old property, the Colorado-grown business well-known for its vegetables and harvest festivals will not survive. Palizzi Farms is at the corner of 6th Avenue and Bromley Lane in Brighton. 

The City of Brighton granted Parkland Metropolitan District No. 1 eminent domain in September to install the underground water drainage system underneath Palizzi Farms for a huge housing development south of Bromley Lane. 

But Engineer Elizabeth Brogan testified as an expert for the farm that there are other options to solve the city’s stormwater problems — including relying on gravity to divert the flow of water on the north or south sides of Bromley Lane.

“There is no existing structure, but that doesn’t mean you can’t put it in there,” said Brogan. “That costs time and money.” 

The proposed pipeline would service the 140-acre Bromley Farms neighborhood at the southeast corner of East Bromley Lane and Chambers Road. 

Attorneys argued that the pipeline was necessary for “the greater good.”

Supporters of Palizzi Farms who filled the courtroom believe that the honey, beets, green beans, heirloom sweet corn, okra and other fresh vegetables are as great a good as anything else. 

Palizzi, who sat through the three-hour court hearing with her farm manager Monday, testified that she received a letter from Parkland Metropolitan District No. 1 on Feb. 24, 2024  informing her that the organization would be using eminent domain to install an underground water drainage system on her property.

“It was not an open statement to come in and talk,” Palizzi testified.

Still, she said that three conversations with developer Jack Hoagland about the plan “were not favorable.”

But attorneys for PMD said Palizzi has been the one who has refused to budge and that construction must begin immediately. The district wants to take soil samples, survey, and determine the size of pipes to use they said would prevent the district from interfering with Palazzi’s ability to farm. The bidding process to hire a contractor is also under a strict deadline, lawyers said.

The district wants to start turning up soil in November and promised that it would be finished in time for planting season in March.

“I want that in writing,” said Palizzi.

At issue is whether she can farm with the proposed four 48-inch pipes running underneath her property, which will be topped with an underground ceiling. She said the pipes would make farming impossible because the project would divide her farm in half.

The district insisted that the pipes will be located far enough underground that they would not hamper the growing seasons.

The district board did not respond to a request from The Denver Gazette for a response. 

In an unexpected twist, Monday’s hearing may have prompted the City to change its mind on its decision last September to grant eminent domain.

Brighton City Councilman Matt Johnston was troubled by the testimony he heard, which he said was opposite from what he understood from the September meeting. He said that when the panel voted to allow eminent domain at a critical meeting Sept. 23,  Parkland’s representatives assured them that farming could be done above the pipes. After hearing from Palizzi that this was not true, Johnston may consider saving the farm instead.

A majority of nine Brighton City Council members must agree to Johnston’s plan in order for change to happen.

“I’m going to call a special meeting to amend the previous decision to make sure this landowner and others are protected,” said Johnston. “It’s not my job to care how much a developer needs to actually go forth with their projects.”

Just hours after the hearing, Johnston walked into city hall and added a formal Platte River review for the June 4 City Council meeting. 

Palizzi Farm supporters started a website devoted to getting Parkland to move their project somewhere else.

The Parkland Metropolitan District No. 1 filed a “Petition in Condemnation” in Adams County District Court last month and its attorneys, who are aware of the emotional pull of the family farm, insisted that they are supported by the law.

Seventeenth District Court Judge Sarah Stout said she would decide on the issue no earlier than May 31.