A three-year legal saga between residents of Gran Paradiso and their developer-controlled government has ended — resolving a fight over irrigation water rates that divided the upscale neighborhood and exposed the power imbalance between homeowners and special-purpose districts that control essential services.
The dispute escalated last year when the West Villages Improvement District shut off irrigation to the neighborhood altogether, browning lawns and water-starving plants as the lawsuit dragged on and a trial date loomed.
But the settlement, which was approved in November, came with some stark conditions…