[Vision2020] mining the taxpayer

[Mark Solomon]

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The state initially approved the water request, but rescinded it in 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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