HomeMy WebLinkAbout970646.tiffNORMAN W. NASH
ATTORNEY AT LAW
1224 EAST 20TH STREET
GREELEY, COLORADO 6063 I
TELEPHONE 970.395.9824
FACSIMILE 970.395. 1062
E-MAIL nnash@usa.net
March 13, 1997
HAND DELIVERED
Board of Weld County Commissioners
915 10th Street
Greeley, Colorado 80631
Re: East 20th Street Zoning Violations
I am one of the homeowners who lodged a complaint with the Weld County Planning and Zoning
Department regarding zoning violations on the property located at approximately 1220 East 20th
Street. This letter is to inform you that the Weld County Board of Commissioners ("Board")
abused its discretion by failing to set a time certain by which the violation of the number of animal
units zoning ordinance must be abated. It is also to inform you that if the Board does not set a
time certain for abatement which is in conformity with the time frames set in similar cases, that I
will have no choice but to file an action against the Board in District Court pursuant to Colorado
Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 106(a)(4) for abuse of discretion.
My complaint was lodged by telephone on March 10 and it is my understanding that a hearing
was held on March 11 before the Board pursuant to an earlier complaint lodged by another
neighbor. It is my further understanding, that with respect to the number of animal units, the
Board decided that the owner of the property may continue to violate the zoning ordinance
virtually indefinitely.
The landowner was allowed to keep nearly three times the number of animal units permitted by
the zoning ordinance on her property but may not replace any of them until, through attrition, she
is in compliance. That could very easily take years and will require daily inspections by the
compliance officer to assure that animals are not being replaced after they die. My home is about
seventy-five yards from the pens in which the animals are kept. I will not wait years for
abatement of the ceaseless racket made by all those animals, which include chickens, geese,
roosters, and turkeys.
The Board has a duty to enforce the zoning ordinance in a manner that is consistent and which
expeditiously achieves the purposes of the zoning ordinance. Allowing years to abate a violation
is neither. It is my understanding that typically landowners are given sixty or ninety days to abate
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violations. In addition, allowing violations to continue for years effectively circumvents the
zoning ordinance and amounts to permitting a use by special review without complying with
procedural due process. Clearly, allowing years to abate is an abuse of discretion.
C.R.C.P. Rule 106(a)(4) contains a thirty day statute of limitation which runs from the day the
Board took action. Thus, I must file suit by April 10, 1997 or lose the right to do so.
Accordingly, I request that the Board reconsider its decision and order the landowner to abate all
of the zoning violations within a time frame that is consistent with time frames typically ordered.
If the Board does not do so on or before March 31, 1997 I will have no way to protect the rights
afforded me by the R-1 zoning district but to file suit pursuant to C.R.C.P. Rule 106(a)(4).
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your time and
consideration.
Very truly yours,
Norman W. Nash
Attorney at Law
pc: Burce Barker
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