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<div><tt><font color="#000000">Mar 27, 9:46 PM EDT<br>
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ID businessman sues county over permit handling<br>
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By REBECCA BOONE</font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font color="#000000">Associated Press
Writer</font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font color="#000000"><br></font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font color="#000000"><br>
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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
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Latah County officials did not immediately return phone calls Tuesday
from The Associated Press.<br>
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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.<br>
<br>
The state initially approved the water request, but rescinded it in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.<br>
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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.<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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."<br>
<br>
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.</font></tt><br>
<tt><font color="#000000"></font></tt></div>
<div><tt><font color="#000000">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.</font></tt></div>
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