[Vision2020] mining the taxpayer

[Bill London]

mining the taxpayerAh yes, Naylor Farms...in all their public hearing testimonies and media utterances, the representatives of Naylor Farms assured us that they were just a local farm family with the best interests of Latah County in mind, that they wanted to be good neighbors, they certainly were not money-grubbing corporate greed-mongers -- and now they want us to pay them $3 million.
BL
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Mark Solomon 
  To: vision2020 at moscow.com 
  Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 6:12 AM
  Subject: [Vision2020] mining the taxpayer


  Mar 27, 9:46 PM EDT

  ID businessman sues county over permit handling

  By REBECCA BOONE
  Associated Press Writer



  BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- A businessman is suing Latah County in federal court, claiming that county commissioners violated his constitutional rights by their handling of his request for a permit to mine sand and gravel.

  Ralph Naylor, the owner of Ralph Naylor Farms, filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court, claiming that Latah County officials violated his Fifth and 14th Amendment rights by vindictively passing an ordinance that prevented Naylor Farms from creating the mining operation.

  Latah County officials did not immediately return phone calls Tuesday from The Associated Press.

  The case began in 2002 when Naylor Farms applied for a groundwater permit with the Idaho Department of Water Resources, hoping to irrigate the 634-acre property for part of the year and to use some water for industrial purposes. Opponents of the plan feared Naylor Farms would damage the aquifer relied on by the region's farmers.

  The state initially approved the water request, but rescinded it in 2005 after Latah County commissioners asked the state to reconsider, according to the lawsuit. On March 2 of that year, Naylor Farms applied to the Idaho Department of Lands to mine sand and gravel for commercial sale, along with some clay for testing purposes. The same day, Latah County commissioners enacted an emergency ordinance establishing a groundwater management zone that included the Naylor Farms land. The ordinance prohibited natural resource mineral extraction and processing, confined animal feedlot operations and golf courses.

  Even though the state Lands Department granted Naylor's mining permit, the Latah County Planning and Zoning Department rejected Naylor's request for a conditional use permit allowing natural mineral resource development, citing the emergency ordinance.

  Second District Judge Carl Kerrick subsequently ruled that the emergency ordinance violated state law. In 2006, Naylor Farms was granted the conditional use permit - subject to several conditions including some designed to mitigate dust and noise - but Naylor appealed the conditions to the county commissioners, who upheld the planning and zoning department's decision to impose restrictions.

  Naylor claims that county officials were angry over his appeals, and so decided to vindictively deny him all economically viable use of his land. That, Naylor claims, "was a spiteful effort to retaliate against Naylor Farms for reasons wholly unrelated to any legitimate governmental objective."

  Naylor is asking the court to give him a jury trial and to order Latah County to pay Naylor Farms $3.17 million - what Naylor says is the fair market value of the land, plus taxes and assessments.

  Besides Latah County, the lawsuit names Commissioners John "Jack" Nelson, Paul Kimmell and Tom Stroschein, as well as Clerk/Auditor Susan Peterson and Director of Planning and Building Michelle Fuson.


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