Board of Adjustments Agrees With Ombudsman and County Commissioners

We just heard that the Board of Adjustments sided with the neighbors in the appeal by Garret Jones.  Our readers will remember that the county planners issued a conditional use permit but later rescinded it after reviewing a decision from the ombudsman.  The Jones' were operating an elk processing facility in the AV-3 zone.

One of our faithful readers posted an analysis of last night's meeting, and we will post Richard Sorensen's play by play comments here:

I attended the Board of Adjustments meeting tonight and took a few notes.

The meeting started with Doug Dickson stating he had a conflict of interest.   There was a lengthy discussion, but ultimately Doug recused himself and an alternate took his spot.   The alternate was Rex Mumford, of Huntsville.   That process took about 30 minutes.

Jason Nelson, the attorney representing the Jones', made his case stating that the meat cutting was ancillary to the domestic elk farm.  He went on to say that there was one large business (a domestic elk ranch) and several smaller businesses,  all working under the umbrella of the larger business.  Those businesses include an Elk Hunting operation and a meat cutting operation.

Board member Phil Hancock asked, "Who owns the Elk once blood is drawn."  Attorney Nelson had Garrett Jones step up to the mike to answer and Garret concurred that once shot, then the elk is the shooter's property.

Deone Smith asked Garet several questions about disturbing the neighbors.  She asked, "What remedies have you taken to appease the neighbors?"    She also asked if he had tried talking with the neighbors.

They also said that while licensed to cut all types of meat, the Jones' business was limited to Elk.  They also said that the Elk arrive beheaded , cleaned and skinned.

Attorney Jodi Hoffman, representing neighbor Brett Barry, then made her presentation.  She stated that Brett is 130' from the facility.  She showed a nighttime picture of a hog hanging by its feet that appeared  ready to be slaughtered.  She also showed a hand painted sign that said,

Prime Cut Co

Wild Game, Beef, etc.

Cut and packaged

The Jones' attorney countered by stating that the hog belonged to a family member and was a onetime event.

After both sides rested, Rex Mumford made a motion to allow citizens to comment on the matter while limiting the comments to no more than three minutes.  No one seconded the motion, and the motion died for lack of a second.

The board decided to deliberate in private and present their decision in public.

Their unanimous decision was to uphold the ombudsman and county commission's recommendation.

Richard Sorensen

Huntsville