In the Rockies today, building in rural parts of the West may have some drawbacks.
In Colorado, residents who sought respite from big-city life on the North Fork Ranch subdivision hundreds of miles south of Denver, are now dealing with coalbed methane gas development.
Two water wells in the subdivision were affected by drilling operations in 2006, and a house under construction in the subdivision exploded last April when methane gas leaked from an abandoned well and exploded.
But not everyone minds the energy work, some residents who own the mineral rights under their property, like the royalty payments the gas provides, as well as the jobs the energy companies bring to their area of the state.
And split-estate conflicts aren't the only problem homeowners in remote subdivisions could face.
Homeowners in a rural subdivision in northwestern Montana aren't pleased with a Canadian developer's decision to put the maintenance buildings for the Wilderness Club's golf course on the boundary between the exclusive gated community and their Koocanusa Estates.
The subdivision's covenants prohibit commercial use of lots, but the Wilderness Club developers said they saw evidence that Koocanusa properties violated that covenant and moved ahead with their plans.
A jury disagreed, and awarded the Club's neighbor $1.3 million, a million of which they awarded for the Club acting with "malice."
The Wilderness Club plans to appeal the verdict.
