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Smart Growth Lawsuit
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Group takes threatened legal action
By JOYCE EDLEFSEN
jedlefsen@uvsj.com
ASHTON – As promised, the Smart Growth Coalition has served Fremont County with a lawsuit.
Six months have passed since the Ashton-based coalition filed a claim alleging the county violated procedures and illegally removed key farm and ranch land protections from its development code.
Coalition founder and spokesman Chan Atchley said the documents were served Thursday. County offices were closed Monday, and the service couldn't be confirmed.
The claim focused on the so-called Loosli amendment to the county's Land Evaluation and Site Assessment program. The amendment, first panned by the county Planning and Zoning Commission but later approved by the County Commission against legal advice, allowed development density to increase from one lot per 40 acres of productive cropland to one lot per 2.5 acres.
The lawsuit wasn't immediately served because the coalition was waiting "patiently for six months hoping that the commissioners do the right thing," Atchley said in a news release.
"A few weeks after passing Ordinance 2007-3 (the Loosli amendment), they retained Mary York from the prestigious Boise law firm of Holland and Hart, to respond to our claim. Her counsel: Repeal it immediately.
"They finally got around to following her advice a couple of weeks ago, but now insist upon using the illegal ordinance to evaluate all development applications that were submitted while it was in effect," Atchley said.
"We believe that out of the 22 proposed developments, there may be as many as 13 developments on nearly 7,800 acres with 2,700 lots that must not be processed using the illegal ordinance," he said, referring to applications for subdivisions that have been filed in the time the Loosli amendment was in effect.
The Smart Growth group said the name of Stephen Loosli, who initiated the amendment, appears on two of those applications for developments totaling 6,452 acres with 2,308 lots.
According to Planning and Building Department records, Loosli is a consultant on the 6,210-acre LaMont Village proposal to develop 2,194 lots and the developer of the Wintergreen subdivision that proposes 114 lots on 300 acres.
Smart Growth filed its lawsuit in August. For several months, county officials have been downplaying the claim because it had not been legally served to county officials.
Atchley consistently said it would be served if the county failed to repeal the notice and if it allowed applications under the amendment the Smart Growth Coalition contends was illegal.
"We've never understood this rush to change a part of our development code with such far-reaching implications," Atchley said in a news release. "Our comprehensive plan discourages the conversion of productive crop lands to other uses." He said he preferred other options such as transfer of development rights.
The Smart Growth Coalition is an Idaho nonprofit corporation that "supports policies that keep its (Fremont County's) landscapes healthy while adapting intelligently to the needs of St. Anthony, Ashton and Island Park as well as the rural and mountain communities surrounding them."
Six months have passed since the Ashton-based coalition filed a claim alleging the county violated procedures and illegally removed key farm and ranch land protections from its development code.
Coalition founder and spokesman Chan Atchley said the documents were served Thursday. County offices were closed Monday, and the service couldn't be confirmed.
The claim focused on the so-called Loosli amendment to the county's Land Evaluation and Site Assessment program. The amendment, first panned by the county Planning and Zoning Commission but later approved by the County Commission against legal advice, allowed development density to increase from one lot per 40 acres of productive cropland to one lot per 2.5 acres.
The lawsuit wasn't immediately served because the coalition was waiting "patiently for six months hoping that the commissioners do the right thing," Atchley said in a news release.
"A few weeks after passing Ordinance 2007-3 (the Loosli amendment), they retained Mary York from the prestigious Boise law firm of Holland and Hart, to respond to our claim. Her counsel: Repeal it immediately.
"They finally got around to following her advice a couple of weeks ago, but now insist upon using the illegal ordinance to evaluate all development applications that were submitted while it was in effect," Atchley said.
"We believe that out of the 22 proposed developments, there may be as many as 13 developments on nearly 7,800 acres with 2,700 lots that must not be processed using the illegal ordinance," he said, referring to applications for subdivisions that have been filed in the time the Loosli amendment was in effect.
The Smart Growth group said the name of Stephen Loosli, who initiated the amendment, appears on two of those applications for developments totaling 6,452 acres with 2,308 lots.
According to Planning and Building Department records, Loosli is a consultant on the 6,210-acre LaMont Village proposal to develop 2,194 lots and the developer of the Wintergreen subdivision that proposes 114 lots on 300 acres.
Smart Growth filed its lawsuit in August. For several months, county officials have been downplaying the claim because it had not been legally served to county officials.
Atchley consistently said it would be served if the county failed to repeal the notice and if it allowed applications under the amendment the Smart Growth Coalition contends was illegal.
"We've never understood this rush to change a part of our development code with such far-reaching implications," Atchley said in a news release. "Our comprehensive plan discourages the conversion of productive crop lands to other uses." He said he preferred other options such as transfer of development rights.
The Smart Growth Coalition is an Idaho nonprofit corporation that "supports policies that keep its (Fremont County's) landscapes healthy while adapting intelligently to the needs of St. Anthony, Ashton and Island Park as well as the rural and mountain communities surrounding them."
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