A Boulder County jury this week awarded television host Aaron Harber at least $360,000 after it found that the town of Erie acted in bad faith and breached a contract with Harber involving his development plans for a sustainable community.

Boulder District Judge Andrew Hartman also ruled during the three-day trial that Harber’s 328-acre land parcel will be disconnected from Erie, which acknowledged earlier this year that it’s $100 million in debt.

“It’s pretty extraordinary,” Harber said of the jury’s verdict. “It sends a message to government at all levels that citizens need to be treated fairly, I think that’s very important. It also says that governments are responsible for keeping their word, just like the rest of us.”

Fred Diehl, assistant to the Erie town administrator, declined Daily Camera interview requests but sent an emailed statement.

“The town of Erie respectfully disagrees with the court’s rulings,” he wrote. “The town will not make a decision with regards to options of appealing the various orders until after a full review.”

Marni Nathan Kloster, a Denver-based attorney who represented Erie in the case, directed all inquires to the town.

Harber’s complex civil lawsuit centered on a large-scale, carbon-neutral development he proposed for southwest Erie called Golden Run. Plans for the environmentally friendly community include more than 25,000 mixed-use and residential units, which could bring 38,000 people to the community over the next 100 years, Harber said.

Harber and Erie inked a pre-annexation agreement in April 2013, according to Harber’s initial complaint in the suit. After that, Harber alleged that Erie began to backtrack on its word by refusing to support zoning and development concepts for the sustainable project, according to the complaint.

He claimed that Erie approved an annexation agreement that he never signed containing terms he didn’t agree to and then refused to disconnect the parcel from the town.

On the breach of contract claim, the six-member jury sided with Harber and awarded him $305,000.

The jury also sided with Harber on his “breach of implied convenant and good faith and fair dealing claim,” awarding him $57,500. The claim stems from an incident last August involving a “police raid” on Harber’s property, his Denver-based attorney Bob Bruce said.

“They had, in August of last year, without the knowledge of Mr. Harber, gone to municipal court and got a search warrant and raided his property with their guns drawn,” Bruce said.

He said he believes they went looking for code violations, such as weeds that were too tall and an electrical box with an outdated outlet, after talks with Harber soured.

Asked to address those allegations, Erie’s Diehl said the Erie Police Department “peacefully and without incident” exercised a search warrant to access Harber’s property on Aug. 6, 2014.

“The persons living there accepted the warrant and allowed the officers, Spanish translator, town of Erie building officials, Boulder County Public Health and Mountain View Fire Rescue to peacefully enter the property,” Diehl wrote in an email. “No arrests were made.”

Trip DeMuth, a former Boulder prosecutor who now works in private practice, said the jury’s verdict in the bad faith claim is rare for a municipality.

“It indicates that the municipality was selectively enforcing its code in a punitive, retaliatory and bad faith fashion,” said DeMuth, who has experience in commercial, real estate and construction litigation. “That’s a significant ruling from a jury.”

Bruce said Erie also must pay the attorneys fees associated with the case. All told, he estimates the town will have spent close to $600,000 on the Harber case.

“It’s unfortunate,” Harber said. “To waste $600,000 of taxpayer money is a bad reflection on the current elected and appointed leadership of Erie and I hope town citizens really are thoughtful about their leadership decisions.”

Sarah Kuta: 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta