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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Ombudsman sides with Liberty Neighbors

In the case of the Liberty neighbors vs. the Elk processing plant, the Property Rights Ombudsman has rendered his opinion in favor of the neighbors.

The Ombudsman was asked tasked with two issues:
1)  Is a custom butchering and meat packing business a prohibited use in the county's AV-3 Zone? and
2)  Does the Weber County code authorize the planning staff to serve as the land use authority in this matter?

Click here to read the document: Office of the Property Rights Ombudsman Opinion

The eleven page document is an interesting read while sipping your cappuccino during commercials of X-Factor, but it boils down to the issue of who is authorized under county ordinances to decide if a use is permitted: planning staff or the planning commission.

We think the planning department should always err on the conservative side by sending any questionable use to the planning commission for review, and the ombudsman apparently agrees.

The Ombudsman concludes:
The County Ordinance language, as it presently stands, prohibits certain agricultural industry or business in the AV-3 Zone.  The business undertaken by the landowners, guided hunting with cutting and processing wild elk off the lot, is inescapably of that type and prohibited in that zone.
It now appears that the ball is in the County's court.

5 comments:

Yosemite Sam said...

I don't know if the ball being in the County's court is a good thing. They seem to always favor big money people on these issues.

It will be interesting to see how much attention the decision makers in the County pay to it's citizens their
opinon.

Holborn Gaines said...

The Valley citizens must realize that the excesses put forth in development schemes thrive because most people remain silent. Old English law has a phrase "Tacit Concenteri" (silence construes consent).

“Wake up citizens, the laws are still on the side of the lawmakers and everything revolves around their Terra Firma.”

Get involved, call or write to your County officials, elected or appointed.

Douglas Adams said...

You can talk about the County always siding with those with Big Money all you want, but what it comes down to is involvement in the community - and sorry to say it, but the "Big Money" people show and give more support where the county needs it than the average citizen (in taxes and charitable donations). There are those in our community who give and give and give - and there are those who take and take and take. Do you really think that the "Big Money" people are those in Weber County are the takers here? Basic Economics 101 - Destroying business is destroying our economy.

Rico Schmidt said...

Douglas Adams is completely wrong about "Big Money". They are all about greed and growth, not the citizens of this area. HIs point is if you have more money to make things happen, that is a good thing.

Douglas Adams said...

That's the general idea of economic growth - the more money you have in a community, the more positive growth will take place. Change is inevitable, but positive growth is oftentimes imputed by ignorance and the prejudices of small minds.