HomeMy WebLinkAbout20222929.tiffBOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
COUNTY OF WELD, STATE OF COLORADO
1150 O Street, Greeley, Colorado 80634
TRANSCRIPT OF PUBLIC HEARING
RE: APPEAL OF THE DECISION BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING SERVICES CONCERNING CODE
COMPLIANCE COMPLAINT, COMP22-00160 — MICHAEL
MARQUARDT AND HAVILAH LILLY
The above -entitled matter came for public meeting before the Weld
County Board of County Commissioners on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, at
1150 O Street, Greeley, Colorado, before Houstan Aragon, Deputy Clerk
to the Board.
I HEREBY CERTIFY that upon listening to the audio record, the
attached transcript, as prepared by Rebecca J. Collings, DausterlMurphy,
www.daustermurphy.com, 303.522.1604, is a complete and accurate
account of the above -mentioned public hearing, with an audio running time
of 9:12 a.m. to 10:43 a.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
WELD COUNTY, COLORADO
Esther E. Gesick
Clerk to the Board
2022-2929
lo4.9 /22.
PL 007 3
1 APPEARANCES:
2 ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS:
3
4
5
6
7
COMMISSIONER SCOTT K. JAMES, CHAIR
COMMISSIONER MIKE FREEMAN, CHAIR PRO-TEM
COMMISSIONER PERRY L. BUCK
COMMISSIONER STEVE MORENO - EXCUSED
COMMISSIONER LORI SAINE - EXCUSED
8 ALSO PRESENT:
9
10
11
12
ACTING CLERK TO THE BOARD, HOUSTAN ARAGON
COUNTY ATTORNEY, BRUCE BARKER
PLANNING SERVICES DIRECTOR, TOM PARKO
PLANNING SERVICES / ZONING, BETHANY PASCOE
13 APPELLANT:
14 MICHAEL MARQUARDT AND HAVILAH LILLY
15 ATTORNEY, JED SCOTT
16
1
1 (Audio recording begins at 9:12 a.m.)
2 CHAIR JAMES: Under Planning, this is
3 to Consider the Appeal of the Decision by the
4 Director of the Department of Planning Services
5 Concerning Code Compliance Complaint, COMP22-00160,
6 for Michael Marquardt and Havilah Lilly.
7 Bruce, if I can take the latitude of
8 just asking you to kindly -- it's not often that we
9 sit as a board of appeals. If you'd kindly remind
10 the Board of our responsibilities here and the
11 proper procedure.
12 MR. BARKER: Sure, so the Code section
13 that's applicable is Section 2-4-10, which allows
14 people to appeal any decision by a department, by a
15 board, anything that is -- you know, that they
16 didn't like, they can appeal it to the Board of
17 County Commissioners. And as it's written in the
18 home -rule charter, it allows for that. So it's an
19 appeal, which is a little bit different than you're
20 hearing a land use case or something like that
21 where you're issuing a permit.
22 So the appeal is that there's been a
23 decision made by the department in this case. And
24 that decision is being appealed by the appellants.
2
1 So the appellants -- technically the department is
2 part of the appellee. I would suggest having the
3 appellants come up to the table and being ready to
4 go to present.
5 Now, on presentation, technically -
6 and usually when you have an appeal, you have the
7 appellants go first because they're appealing the
8 decision. In this instance -- we've done it both
9 ways.
10 The second way you can do it is you
11 have the department give a -- sort of a brief
12 overview of the decision, sort of the position of
13 the department. That sets the table. And then the
14 appellant can then say, Well, that was wrong
15 because of this, this, and this.
16 Between those two ways, we don't say
17 how it's supposed to go in the code, but of those
18 two procedures, I'd have to say experience is the
19 second way is usually best because it sort of gives
20 the Board a little flavor for what is the issue and
21 what is the Department's position. And then it
22 gives the appellant the ability to go ahead and
23 make a full presentation after that.
24 So I would suggest that -- Mr. Scott
3
1 is here today to represent the appellants, and I
2 would suggest you invite them up, have them ready
3 to go. And then my recommendation is to go ahead
4 and have Mr. Parko sort of give that explanation,
5 and then go ahead and have the appellants present.
6 CHAIR JAMES: I agree with your
7 recommendation. Remind me if a public hearing is
8 necessary on this.
9 MR. BARKER: We've done it both ways.
10 I don't know if there are people in the audience
11 who will want to speak on that. The Board has, in
12 the past, opened it up.
13 CHAIR JAMES: Okay.
14 MR. BARKER: Technically, it's
15 just -- you know, if there's someone who wants to
16 say something, it's really between the appellants
17 and the appellee, which is the Department. And so,
18 you know, do you open it up for that purpose? I
19 think it probably would be good to go ahead and do
20 that.
21 CHAIR JAMES: Fair to do so. Let's go
22 the second route. Appellees, department, kindly.
23 Tom?
24 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: And if you
4
1 can invite --
2 CHAIR JAMES: Yeah, and kindly, if you
3 would, Mr. -- is it Ripply or Riley? I'm sorry.
4 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: It's Jed Scott.
5 MR. BARKER: Jed Scott.
6 CHAIR JAMES: How would I forget that
7 name, sir? Mr. Scott, kindly come forward and get
8 ready, sir, please.
9 MR. PARKO: All right, Commissioners.
10 Good morning. Tom Parko, Department of Planning
11 Services. With me this morning is Ms. Bethany
12 Pascoe, Code Compliance Officer.
13 As Mr. Barker mentioned to you all,
14 the item before you this morning is concerning an
15 appeal of my decision to dismiss Code Compliance
16 Case Number COMP22-00160. Again, as Mr. Barker
17 mentioned, the relevant Code section that we're
18 referring to this morning is under Chapter 2,
19 Article 4, Section 2-4-10.
20 I have prepared a pretty detailed
21 memorandum for the Commissioners with all sorts of
22 relevant information, attachments, maps, locations
23 of the property. And Ms. Pascoe here has these up
24 on the screen too, so you have kind of a visual of
5
1 what we're talking about here.
2 So in summary, staff received a
3 complaint about a light fixture attached to an
4 outbuilding located on a property near the Town of
5 Firestone, right off there off Colorado Boulevard,
6 just to the east and adjacent to Colorado
7 Boulevard, and what would be probably about half a
8 mile southeast of County Road 26. The physical
9 address, or the situs address here, is 11416
10 Colorado Boulevard, aka County Road 13. The
11 property is owned by the Adams.
12 The property owners, Mr. Marquardt and
13 Ms. Lilly, located to the property north of the
14 Adams, filed a complaint with the county stating
15 that the light that was attached to one of the
16 buildings was too bright, and disrupted their
17 quality of life during nighttime hours. We do have
18 aerial images here of the property that are
19 actually in your file and then up here, as Bethany
20 is scrolling through them.
21 Kind of just in summary here, I
22 dismissed the complaint because in my opinion, the
23 light fixture conforms to the lighting requirements
24 under Chapter 23, Article 3, Section 23-3-70.F.
6
1 This is the Bulk Requirements in the Agricultural
2 Zone District for lighting.
3 So under Chapter 23, Article 3,
4 Division 1, under that section I just referenced,
5 it states, "Sources of light shall be shielded so
6 that beams or rays of light will not shine directly
7 onto adjacent properties. Neither the direct nor
8 reflective light from any light source may create a
9 traffic hazard to operators of motor vehicles on
10 public or private streets and roads. No colored
11 lights may be used which may be confused or
12 construed as traffic -controlled devices."
13 The Code section listed above does not
14 say that the sources of light shall be down -facing.
15 The Code says that sources of light shall be
16 shielded. The light fixture as depicted in the
17 photos in your attachments has a shield on top of
18 the light. The light prevents the light from
19 escaping in an upwards direction. The Code section
20 does not say beams or rays of light will not shine
21 directly `into' adjacent properties. The Code
22 says, Beams or rays of light will not shine
23 directly `onto' adjacent properties.
24 The light fixture in question is not
7
1 located on a property line where the light would
2 shine directly `onto' a neighboring property. The
3 light fixture is located approximately 330 feet to
4 the southwest of the complainant's property, of the
5 residence there, the Marquardts -- Mr. Marquardt
6 and Ms. Lilly's residence.
7 In addition, the bulk requirements in
8 the Agricultural Zone District have no lumen
9 requirements, and we don't regulate the intensity
10 of light. Weld County, as maybe the Commissioners
11 know, we've kind of referred to a, "dark sky," in
12 some cases in the past. But I do want to make it
13 clear for the record that Weld County does not have
14 a dark sky policy. No policy exists in written
15 format or in Code.
16 And then kind of finally here, and
17 touching on the last part of this Code section, in
18 my opinion, the light does not create a traffic
19 hazard to operators of motor vehicles or the public
20 or private streets or roads.
21 The Department of Planning Services,
22 Ms. Pascoe, had reached out to the fire - or
23 excuse me, the police chief within the Town of
24 Firestone to ask them if they've received any
8
1 complaints from the mortaring public.
2 And the reason we reached out to the
3 Town of Firestone is because Colorado Boulevard in
4 that area is within Firestone's jurisdiction. We
5 do have some email correspondence from the police
6 chief, dated July 11, 2022, indicating they have
7 not received any complaints about the light
8 creating a hazard or a safety concern to the
9 motoring public.
10 And also just to expand on that, there
11 is a subdivision nearby these properties, and we
12 have not received any complaints from them, and
13 neither has the Town of Firestone.
14 So in closing, as you can see in my
15 memorandum, my recommendation is the light fixture
16 meets the Bulk Requirements for lighting under
17 Section 23-3-70.F and should be allowed.
18 This concludes my overview, and I'm
19 happy to answer any questions.
20 CHAIR JAMES: Questions for Tom?
21 Tom, in my mind, it's different
22 that -- or -- not different, but it is important,
23 rather, that we establish, at least in your
24 application -- this is going to get picky, but I
9
1 think it boils down to it -- into and onto.
2 MR. PARKO: Right.
3 CHAIR JAMES: Please explain to me the
4 difference in your mind between into and onto.
5 MR. PARKO: In my opinion -- you know,
6 we have lots of different light fixtures that are
7 out. And we're dealing here with the Agricultural
8 Zone District. So the way I interpret the Code is
9 that, you know, that -- you know, lights can shine
10 outwards, like -- kind of like in -direction, like
11 inwards onto properties. But it's not shining
12 directly onto the neighboring property.
13 Just because this light fixture,
14 again, like I mentioned, is 330 feet away from the
15 residence, and probably a good 300, maybe a little
16 bit less than 300 feet away from the property line.
17 And so, you know, the Department of
18 Planning Services, we don't go out and enforce any
19 type of lighting regulations. We don't have a
20 light meter. We don't do what the oil and gas
21 department does. We don't have any type of
22 standards in there for that.
23 So again, I'm going off and basing
24 this off of kind of my opinion that I don't believe
10
1 that this light -- because it's not located right
2 on a property line, I don't think that's shining
3 directly onto the surface of a property, or shining
4 directly on top of a roof, or anything else like
5 that. So that's what I mean by shining onto,
6 versus into a property.
7 MR. JAMES: It's in every land use
8 case that I've seen in my approaching four years
9 the Right to Farm statement. Is that code?
10 MR. PARKO: Right to Farm is in our
11 Code. It's actually contained in Chapter 22 of the
12 County's Comprehensive Plan.
13 CHAIR JAMES: Do you believe that the
14 Right to Farm statement interacts in any way with
15 this?
16 MR. PARKO: I -- in my opinion, yes,
17 just because, you know, there's a lot of livestock.
18 There's a lot of, you know, confinement operations
19 out in the county, dairies, feedlots. A lot of
20 these types of operations, whether it's a USR or a
21 Use by Right, they do require -
- or have lighting
22 as a necessity to help protect livestock, to help
23 protect as a security measure.
24 I drive by one of the largest feed
11
1 lots when coming into work, and they have 40 -foot
2 tall light poles that shine everywhere on top of
3 that 160 -acre property, and they use it for a
4 variety of reasons, as I mentioned, for security
5 and for protection of their livestock. So I do
6 believe that it applies to the Right to Farm.
7 CHAIR JAMES: Additional questions for
8 Tom?
9 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: No.
10 CHAIR JAMES: Mr. Scott, please.
11 MR. SCOTT: Commissioner James, would
12 you like me to stand at the podium? Would that be
13 better?
14 CHAIR JAMES: Whatever suits you best,
15 sir. It's your prerogative. Just as long as
16 you're within, I'm told, a foot of that microphone.
17 MR. SCOTT: I'm perfectly comfortable
18 with whatever you'd like. I'm happy to sit here.
19 CHAIR JAMES: You're good right there.
20 MR. BARKER: So just for the record,
21 Mr. Scott, I just want to mention that everything
22 that Mr. Scott and his office provided us has been
23 inputted and is in your packets.
24 CHAIR JAMES: Okay.
12
1 MS. BUCK: That's what I'm looking at.
2 CHAIR JAMES: Thank you, sir.
3 Please.
4 MR. SCOTT: And Commissioner James,
5 for the record, the Right to Farm statute, it's
6 codified. It's C.R.S. 35-3.5-102. I do think at
7 some point it could become applicable. I don't
8 think for purposes of this hearing it is at all.
9 So we'll get into that if needed.
10 Good morning, Commissioners. My name
11 is Jed Scott. I'm the attorney representing
12 Michael Marquardt, who's here today, and his wife,
13 Havilah Lilly, who's also here today.
14 Mr. Marquardt and Ms. Lilly reside at
15 11506 County Road 3, which is located in Firestone,
16 Colorado. We're here to, as Mr. Parko pointed out,
17 examine Section 23-3-70 of the Weld County code.
18 Part F states, "Sources of light shall
19 be shielded so that beams or rays of light will not
20 shine directly onto adjacent properties." That is
21 the primary sentence that we're here to talk about
22 today.
23 The second sentence remains to be
24 seen. My understanding is that planning is relying
13
1 upon information received from another undisclosed
2 or an unknown third party regarding whether the
3 direct or the reflected light from that same light
4 source is creating a traffic hazard to operators of
5 motor vehicles on public or private streets and
6 roads. We're not here to talk about that. We will
7 flag that as an open issue. We're not satisfied
8 that that even has been addressed.
9 But as written, we believe the Code
10 can't be enforced. There's nothing unclear or
11 unenforceable with the text as it is written.
12 Now, Commissioners, I honestly don't
13 know how often citizens complain to this county
14 about light projecting onto their properties from
15 neighboring properties. It is possible that
16 complaints do not happen often. If that is the
17 case, there likely are numerous explanations,
18 including the possibility that neighbors are often
19 able to work out their differences before code gets
20 called in, et cetera.
21 That is what probably or what normally
22 happens I think with reasonable people. But after
23 efforts are made to resolve, and if the offending
24 party steadfastly refuses to take action, what is
14
1 the aggrieved landowner left to do, especially if
2 there's a code provision that clearly and directly
3 addresses the problem and provides a remedy? Here,
4 shielding the light.
5 That said, my clients have endeavored
6 to find a way to resolve this problem short of
7 being here today. Mr. and Ms. Adams, the
8 neighbors, argue that their light does not shine
9 directly onto the Lilly/Marquardt property, or that
10 they're entitled to operate the problem light
11 without any adjustment to protect their horses.
12 To be crystal clear, my clients don't
13 have a problem with the horses. They do, however,
14 have a problem with the light in its current state.
15 Surely there is a reasonable solution for the
16 problem light.
17 As it stands, Mr. Marquardt and
18 Mrs. Lilly alone are suffering daily. And this, we
19 believe, is because Section 23-3-70.F is not being
20 enforced. We ask that the County enforce its Code.
21 That is the reason why we are here today.
22 The road map -- I'm just going to
23 simply call Mr. Marquardt, who's going to march
24 through the evidence that's been provided so far,
15
1 or to the County. I'll have him just describe and
2 show you, in detail, what's going to with the
3 property.
4 His wife, Mrs. Lilly, will also be
5 able to provide some supplemental testimony, but it
6 will be very brief on her part. And at the end,
7 we'll circle back and we'll discuss the Code.
8 We'll discuss what's gone on so far. We'll discuss
9 where Planning stands and what we believe is a
10 reading and error of the Code and/or application of
11 the Code.
12 And I want to say as a parting shot
13 here that we completely understand in this day and
14 age, nobody -- and I repeat, nobody -- wants to be
15 told what to do. I understand that. That doesn't
16 bring me any joy. But we also have to look at this
17 on the other side. Why have a code if it's not
18 going to be enforced?
19 I think the simple solution is
20 apparent. It's there in front of you. Shield the
21 light. I was thinking about we're in baseball
22 season, we're heading into football season. Shield
23 the light. Shield the light. It's not
24 complicated. It's not hard.
16
1 So at this point, with your
2 permission, I'll call Mr. Marquardt. I do have a
3 demonstration to provide, and it will take me a
4 second to get set up on your system.
5 CHAIR JAMES: Okay.
6 MR. SCOTT: Okay.
7 MR. BARKER: While this is being set
8 up, I have explained to Mr. Scott that the rules of
9 evidence are relaxed in this instance, in terms of
10 it's up to the Board how you like to hear from
11 witnesses. I mean, typically you like to just have
12 them speak, say what they're going to say, not with
13 a question/answer. It's totally up to you how
14 you'd like to hear that.
15 CHAIR JAMES: Okay.
16 (Set up A/V equipment.)
17 MR. SCOTT: Mr. Marquardt, when you're
18 ready, let me know.
19 MR. MARQUARDT: Good morning. I'm
20 Michael Marquardt. I live just north of the
21 property at 11506 County Road 13.
22 What I have here today is we moved in
23 in 2017 to the property. And this is a picture
24 just after we had moved in. And what this shows is
17
1 we're looking south towards our neighbor's property
2 at the barn that they have.
3 And -- hopefully this will
4 work -- right there is where the current light is
5 positioned. When we moved in, that was -- that
6 wasn't even an issue. There was no light there.
7 They had no other lights set up to shine directly
8 at us.
9 If you want to flip.
10
MR. SCOTT: Next slide, please. The
11 next exhibit is Exhibit 2.
12 MR. MARQUARDT: So this is the light
13 that they installed after we had moved in. And
14 what -- from looking at this, while it may look
15 small from here, those ribs on the barn are each a
16 foot. That light's about 2 feet wide and about a
17 foot tall, is how big that light is. There is no
18 shield. We're looking directly at the light. This
19 is the light. That is the light. There is no
20 shield whatsoever on that light.
21 If you want to go --
22 MR. SCOTT: Michael, so on that
23 exhibit, let's just stop, back up real quickly.
24 Let me give you a little background.
18
1 So Mr. Marquardt, let's just talk
2 briefly about you so you can introduce yourself to
3 the Commissioners. Could you tell us where you're
4 originally from and how long you've lived in
5 Colorado?
6 MR. MARQUARDT: I'm originally from
7 Aberdeen, South Dakota. I've been in Colorado
8 since 2006.
9 MR. SCOTT: And is Ms. Lilly, Havilah
10 Lilly, your wife?
11 MR. MARQUARDT: Yes.
12 MR. SCOTT: Do you have any children?
13 MR. MARQUARDT: Yeah, so we have one
14 daughter who lives with us still who's 6
15 MR. SCOTT: And do you know Tom and
16 Dee Adams, your neighbors?
17 MR. MARQUARDT: Yeah, I do. They're
18 the ones that live at 11416, who own this property
19 that we're looking at here in this photo.
20 MR. SCOTT: And is this property
21 located in Weld County?
22 MR. MARQUARDT: Yes.
23 MR. SCOTT: And you've lived there how
24 long?
19
1 MR. MARQUARDT: Since 2017.
2 MR. SCOTT: And can you explain what
3 attracted you or appealed to you with respect to
4 the property you purchased?
5 MR. MARQUARDT: It's an acreage
6 property. So we have 3 acres. It allows us to
7 have animals, just like all the neighboring ones
8 here. They have horses, which we liked. Across
9 the street they have horses also. There's horses
10 down the way.
11 And then to the north of us, it's
12 undeveloped at this point, but those are set up as
13 acreage properties also, to allow animals that will
14 be -- I think they're between 2 to 3 acres is when
15 that's developed.
16 MR. SCOTT: Mr. Marquardt, do you have
17 any problem with your neighbors owning or keeping
18 horses?
19 MR. MARQUARDT: No.
20 MR. SCOTT: Okay. All right. So back
21 to Exhibits 1 and 2, as you moved in, there was no
22 light. Approximately what year did -- with
23 Exhibit 2, the one that's currently up on the
24 display -- when was that approximately installed?
20
1 MR. MARQUARDT: We moved in in 2017.
2 It was installed sometime near the end of maybe
3 2018, beginning of 2019. We never noticed it. It
4 never seemed like it was on up until we got into
5 2020. In 2020, they began turning it on and
6 leaving it on until about 10:00 at night, which
7 seemed fine, 10:00 at night, and it would go off.
8 Well, that timeframe continued to go
9 longer and longer. So it started to stay on until
10 midnight. It started to stay on until 2:00 a.m. in
11 the morning. It started to stay on until 4:00 a.m.
12 in the morning. Which at that point I had sent a
13 text message to them, and asked, "Hey, can you
14 shield your light?"
15 A short time, like within a week or
16 two, the light never came back on. The light was
17 off until September of this last year, 2020 [sic].
18 And then they started using the light again, and it
19 continued to stay on until midnight, 2:00 in the
20 morning, 4:00 in the morning. And it shines
21 directly into our master bathroom and into our
22 master bedroom.
23 MR. SCOTT: Mr. Marquardt, could you
24 describe what that photo, using the laser pointer,
21
1 how it's actually pointed. Are we -- where are you
2 standing with this photograph when it was taken?
3 MR. MARQUARDT: So I'm standing on my
4 property line, and it is -- I'm between that light
5 and my house.
6 MR. SCOTT: Approximately how far from
7 the property line to the light is it?
8 MR. MARQUARDT: The shortest point
9 between the property line and that light is
10 187 feet.
11 MR. SCOTT: And as far as the
12 placement and pointing of the light, is it pointed
13 down, up, to the sides?
14 MR. MARQUARDT: It's pointed in a
15 general -- it's just a broad -- it's called a Type
16 4 light. And what it does is it projects light
17 outward. It does up, down, to the sides. I have a
18 slide in here that will kind of demonstrate where
19 those beams of light go.
20 MR. SCOTT: So with respect to a
21 Google Earth image, could you just describe real
22 quickly to the Commissioners the situation with
23 your property and the Adams' property and the
24 location of the subject light?
22
1 MR. MARQUARDT: So on here, their
2 light is positioned right on this corner. This is
3 my residence right there. Our bedroom is right on
4 that southwest corner. Closest to the light is
5 where our bedroom is.
6 MR. SCOTT: One moment. I did
7 actually bring binders. I forgot to provide these
8 to you. May I approach --
9 CHAIR JAMES: You can give them to the
10 County Attorney.
11 MR. SCOTT: -- so you can follow along
12 too?
13 MR. BARKER: Jed, is all of the
14 information that you sent to us, is that what's in
15 here?
16 MR. SCOTT: That's correct.
17
MR. BARKER: Okay.
18 MR. SCOTT: Yeah, just for your ease,
19 it's provided.
20 MR. BARKER: Thank you.
21 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: So Commissioner
22 James, so this, I think -- let me just input
23 something really quickly, Mr. Scott. This is a
24 little bit different than like a trial. It's more
23
1 of -- I mean, I would feel more comfortable, rather
2 than you questioning your witness, if he would just
3 tell his story and tell us what's going on.
4 MR. SCOTT: Fair enough.
5 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: Is that -- I don't
6 mean to -- I mean, the way that we do things is a
7 little bit different. It's a lot more comfortable
8 to me if Mr. Marquardt would just kind of tell his
9 story.
10 MR. SCOTT: All right.
11 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: Thank you.
12 MR. MARQUARDT: You can go to the next
13 slide. I don't know if we can get to the photos.
14 You want to bring up the actual photos, right?
15 MR. SCOTT: Yeah, I do.
16 MR. MARQUARDT: And in the book,
17 sometimes it doesn't print well. We also printed
18 off photos if you want to see them personally.
19 So these photos were taken on
20 May 16th. So our last recording from the county
21 was on, I believe, May 13th, where they said the
22 light isn't an issue, it's no violation.
23 Well, in all of our dealings with the
24 county, we had asked them originally, "Could you
24
1 come out at night and take a look at this light and
2 actually see it for yourself?" What we learned on
3 the 13th was they don't work after 5:00 p.m. So
4 they won't come out at night.
5 I didn't know that at the time. They
6 didn't correspond with us to ask us about, you
7 know, sending any additional information. I didn't
8 know that they couldn't come out at night. So on
9 the 16th, I took additional photos to show what
10 this light looks like at night.
11 And all this is, is this is just a
12 closeup. And what this is showing is the only
13 thing on this light is a glass shield to protect it
14 from the elements. That is the light on the inside
15 there, unshielded, that is pouring right to us.
16 We can go to the next one.
17 So what this is, is by chance that
18 night, they didn't turn on their light right away
19 before it got dark. So this is a photo inside of
20 our house without the light on.
21 If you go to the next one.
22 By chance, within five minutes, they
23 had turned on their light. So this is five minutes
24 later. This is the light that shines into our
25
1 house, into all of our windows.
2 If you go to the next one.
3 That must be a duplicate -- yeah.
4 So when you step outside, this is the
5 light that shines onto our property. There's no
6 shield. You can see the direct light shining right
7 into our property.
8 If you want to go to the next one.
9 This is the exact same, just five
10 minutes earlier without the light. It's before
11 they turned the light on.
12 And part of what I want to show is I
13 have neighbors that are closer. They have -- you
14 can stay on that one. These neighbors are actually
15 closer than that light. They have back porch
16 lights just like I have lights on my garage, which
17 is just a standard 60 -watt equivalent bulb. Their
18 lights don't light up all of my property. I don't
19 have -- there's no issue at all.
20 If you go to the next one.
21 So this is the light on. That is me
22 standing on my property as the light shines onto my
23 shed. You can see the fence line that the light
24 creates. You can see a distinct outline of me,
26
1 because there's no shield to it. It shines
2 directly onto me.
3 If you go to the next one.
4 When I turn around, same -- same spot.
5 This is me looking at their light, taking a
6 photograph. And what you can see is that light
7 shines all the way across. It lights up my fence.
8 You can see the reflection on one of their sheds,
9 which is 10 feet off of my property.
10 If you go to the next one.
11 And this is just another angle showing
12 their light. Their light is shining that up. I
13 took a picture without it. It's black. I
14 don't -- there's nothing else there.
15 If you go to the next one.
16 This is standing right out front of my
17 house. That is the light that shines.
18 If you go to the next one.
19 That's just another angle.
20 If you go to the next one.
21 So this one's probably a little harder
22 to see here. This is me standing down my driveway,
23 and I'm looking at my house. So this is the side
24 of my house. This little part of my house, the
27
1 tree is blocking some of the light.
2 This is what their light's doing.
3 This light lights up my trees, which are over
4 50 feet high up into the air. The light shines all
5 the way up to the top of the trees and beyond.
6 If you go to the next one.
7 This is -- we're over 600 feet away
8 from the light here. This is the end of my
9 driveway. That is the light that we're talking
10 about on the shed that points towards my house over
11 here. You can still see, even at an angle, there's
12 no shield to the light.
13 They also have a light right next to
14 their house. This is their house. They also have
15 a light that's down -shielded next to their house,
16 which is next to the roadway. You can see a vast
17 difference between a shielded light and an
18 unshielded light.
19 If you go to the next one.
20 This is standing right in front of my
21 garage, same thing. I believe the County said it's
22 300 -and -some -feet away. This is the amount of
23 light that their light alone provides -- or shines
24 onto my property.
28
1 If you go to the next one.
2 This is just another angle of -- the
3 only time the light is ever blocked is if I go
4 behind one of their sheds. Otherwise, this is the
5 light that shines onto my property. We share
6 almost 800 feet of property line. This light
7 lights up all 800 feet of my property.
8 If you go to the next one.
9 This is me standing at the property
10 line. I'm about a hundred feet away from my house.
11 What I'm trying to show here is these are direct
12 beams of light. You can see the outline of me,
13 their fence line. This is my bedroom window,
14 shining directly onto my house, onto my roof, all
15 onto my trees with no relief. The only relief is
16 if something stops that light.
17 If you want to go to the next one.
18 That is directly in front. This is my
19 property. At the property line, this is 187 feet
20 from the light. This is what we get. You can see
21 the amount of light that it brings across. It
22 lights up everything.
23 If you go to the next one.
24 This is the view standing in front of
29
1 my window that goes into our bedroom. That's the
2 light -- so one of the things we tried to do
3 earlier this year, as the County kind of denied and
4 said, This isn't a violation, we started planting
5 trees. So we spent a few thousand dollars trying
6 to plant some trees. Obviously, it's going to take
7 time for those trees to even grow in, to be able to
8 block that in. But you can see the amount of
9 light. It even reflects off of the other things on
10 my property.
11 If you go to the next one.
12
This is a video. This is me starting
13 from my -- the end of my property line, 650 feet
14 away from that light, just walking down my
15 driveway.
16 (Video played.)
17 MR. MARQUARDT: So all the way along
18 here, no shielding to the light. I believe the
19 County stated that there was some side -shielding
20 and top -shielding. It doesn't affect at all where
21 my property is. And as we get closer and closer to
22 the light, you can see how it intensifies. The
23 only time it ever blocks out is behind their
24 buildings. That's the only time.
30
1 (Video continued playing.)
2 MR. MARQUARDT: You can probably stop
3 there, I think. The point is made there.
4 So with regard to -- so this is a
5 depiction of the beams of light at 6 -foot height,
6 all the way down my property line.
7 So what we found out was the neighbors
8 had claimed that they had gotten a light meter, and
9 they had taken meter readings that the County
10 accepted. And what they were saying is right here
11 on the corner of their property, they were saying
12 that the light is zero. That there is no light
13 readings whatsoever.
14 What I had done was -- I didn't know a
15 lot about light readings either, so I did a little
16 bit of research. And I found out that you -- you
17 can get calibrated light meters. So I ordered a
18 calibrated light meter. It came with all the
19 paperwork necessary to show that it is within
20 3 percent of that reading that we have.
21 MR. SCOTT: For your edification, it's
22 Exhibits 14 and 15.
23 MR. MARQUARDT: So I simply read the
24 instructions on what it told me to do. What I did
31
1 find out is you do have to make sure that you have
2 the right light meter. If you use a generic one
3 that you may just buy at Home Depot or something,
4 they're not certified for LED lighting. So if they
5 have LED lighting, you have to -- it's a little
6 more expensive. You have to get a different light
7 meter. But it does all of them then, including
8 LEDs, which is what we believe their light is, is
9 an LED light.
10 So I read through this, and there's a
11 photo that the County had given us showing them
12 holding a light meter that said zero, pointed up at
13 the sky. In reading the instructions, that's not
14 at all how you use a light meter. You actually
15 have to point that light meter directly at the
16 light source at a perpendicular angle.
17 So I went across my whole property.
18 If you want to go back to 16. So I did it across
19 my entire property to show that light does go
20 across the entire way. I have meter readings,
21 which are in foot-candles. And that's how
22 the -- the meter readings you can do foot-candles
23 and lux. They're pretty similar.
24 But the point of this is to show the
32
1 amount of light that comes across on my property,
2 and that it's directly coming from their light.
3 It's not coming from anywhere else.
4 I went out on the full moon. Friday,
5 July 13, was a full moon. I tried to take a meter
6 reading at a full moon. It's pretty bright. You
7 can see pretty well. Zero. The moon doesn't
8 provide any amount of light.
9 Their light goes from a .01 reading,
10 which also it appears in their reading the
11 tolerances are wrong. Light starts at 1,000
12 percentile. So .001 is where you start reading
13 light in foot-candles.
14 So I went across. We go from .01,
15 .03, all the way up to .12. But behind their
16 sheds, they're zero. All of the light coming
17 across is from their light shining onto our
18 property. And what the County says is right here
19 is zero.
20 What exhibit number? Go to
21 Exhibit 18.
22 And unfortunately, that's only a 2-D
23 depiction. It doesn't show that the light also
24 goes up.
33
1 So on -- this is from June 7 at
2 8:43 p.m. So this is after sunset. We're in the
3 twilight where we don't really need lights. I
4 don't know if you can -- do you need to make that
5 bigger? You can see that? Okay. So what this is,
6 is this is from --
7 MR. SCOTT: For your edification, it's
8 Exhibit 18 in your notebook.
9 MR. MARQUARDT: So we're in the
10 twilight timeframe, which means the sun has
11 officially set. But it's not 6 degrees below the
12 horizon yet, so there's still light. This is off
13 of my camera that I have on my house. It hasn't
14 even gone into night mode yet. You can still see
15 pretty well. They have their light turned on
16 On the next one, this is inside my
17 house. This is their light again. Even at
18 twilight, when we don't even need light, it's
19 shining into my house.
20 So like I talked about, this is kind
21 of repeated. It started slow. It wasn't a whole
22 lot. But this last year, it has gotten worse, and
23 keeping on until 4:00 in the morning.
24 So I get up at 4:30 in the morning to
34
1 go to work. But this light's on all night long on
2 me. So in November, we initially sent in a
3 complaint to the County. And we did it anonymously
4 because we didn't want it to affect any sort of
5 relationship with them, or any sort of, Hey,
6 we're -- now that we know you don't like this,
7 we're going to leave it on or something. We didn't
8 want to get into any of that. That initially got
9 denied.
10 So I started, really through November
11 into December is when I started to notice my sleep
12 deprivation, that I couldn't get a good night's
13 sleep anymore. I would wake up in the middle of
14 the night, and this light is shining up through my
15 curtains, and I can't get back to sleep.
16 There are times where they didn't turn
17 it on right away. They turn it on at 10:00 at
18 night, and it wakes me up. So we had to go
19 through -- we had to go and get blackout curtains
20 to put into.
21 The blackout curtains couldn't even
22 block enough of the light. We ended up having two
23 sets of blackout curtains put on. In our master
24 bedroom, we ended up having to board up the top,
35
1 above our curtains because the light would still
2 shine up through.
3 We have our curtains pinned closed to
4 prevent the light from coming through. So in order
5 to even open our curtains normally during the day,
6 we have to unpin them, because otherwise, just that
7 little bit of gap, that light is so bright, it
8 lights up our whole bedroom. And I can't sleep. I
9 can't function. And it hurts. It hurts my family.
10 It hurts me at work. And it's not necessary.
11 I have a demonstration. I brought in
12 a wall pack light that I'd like to be able to
13 demonstrate. Is there anything else we wanted
14 to -
15 MR. SCOTT: I think you covered it.
16 MR. MARQUARDT: If I can have a few
17 seconds to kind of set that up real quick.
18 MR. SCOTT: That's up to the Board.
19 If you want to see that, fine. If you don't --
20 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: I think we all know
21 what lights look like. I mean, it's up to you
22 guys. Do you want to see it?
23 MR. MARQUARDT: What I wanted to
24 depict is to show, it's not necessarily that light
36
1 specifically; it's that it's unshielded. If it was
2 just shielded, that light would be fine. They can
3 light up all their property if they want to. I
4 don't need my property all lit up for that. I
5 don't have to go through this night after night
6 after night. They could simply shield it, and I
7 just wanted to show a demonstration on how these
8 shields work.
9 So when I purchased the light, it's an
10 additional option that you get with them. Mine
11 cost $15. I looked online, and they range from
12 $20 to $35. And all you have to do is put that
13 shield on there and install it so the edge of the
14 shield goes across the property line.
15 They can light up all their property.
16 If they need to protect their horses with light,
17 they can do that. But they don't need to light up
18 all of my property to do that.
19 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: So I do have a
20 question.
21 CHAIR JAMES: Commissioner.
22 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: So I'm a little bit
23 confused on the shield. So in other words, you're
24 not shielding the front of it, so what are
37
1 you putting -- it's still going to shine as far as
2 it shines.
3 MR. MARQUARDT: It does go on the
4 front. And, I mean, I have it set up so I can turn
5 it on and show you.
6 CHAIR JAMES: Go ahead and do that,
7 demonstrate that.
8
9 (Discussion about setting up the
10 demonstration.)
11 MR. MARQUARDT: Can I run to the car?
12 I totally forgot the shields in there.
13 CHAIR JAMES: Let's do this. Let's
14 take a five-minute recess, because I have to run
15 someplace else. So if we can take a five-minute
16 recess and come back at 10:07, 10:08.
17 (Recess taken.)
18 CHAIR JAMES: Folks, let's continue,
19 if you would, please, Mr. Marquardt.
20 Oh, I'm sorry, please.
21 MR. BARKER: Because the light can't
22 testify, it would be good to have either Jed or the
23 witness describe what's happening for the record.
24 CHAIR JAMES: That is true, for the
38
1 audio record. And in doing so, yeah, you'll
2 need -- that microphone will move with you. So
3 you'll want to grab that. Okay.
4 MR. SCOTT: Are we back on, Mr. James?
5 CHAIR JAMES: Yes, please.
6 MR. MARQUARDT: And I'm probably
7 standing in the way now.
8 So this is a wall pack light. It's a
9 Type 4 lighting device, similar to what they have
10 on the side of their barn. Theirs is quite bigger
11 than this. This is a smaller version of it.
12 What you have is a -- you have a
13 housing, which just holds the electronic workings
14 of the light. There's a ballast in there that
15 brings it all on. And then there's a shield on the
16 front here that's just for protection from the
17 elements. It's a clear shield, allows light to
18 shine right through. This is not a light shield on
19 the front.
20 It's going to be bright, so I
21 recommend not looking directly --
22 MR. BARKER: I already had my cataract
23 surgery. Not again.
24 MR. MARQUARDT: So what it does is it
39
1 shines light in all directions. So it's designed
2 to specifically go all the way around. It shines
3 up. This is what it's designed to do.
4 You might see it a lot in
5 municipalities. We have underpasses. This is the
6 type of lighting they use in an underpass. So the
7 other side, rather than having a shield, is the
8 concrete, so it's containing the light in there.
9 But it's very bright and works very well for those
10 situations.
11 I'm not going to change at all the
12 amount of light.
13 CHAIR JAMES: Please be -- that's
14 okay, because the Clerk to the Board's been getting
15 on me lately about microphones. So kindly -- you
16 can pick that up and take it with you if you'd
17 like. There you go.
18 MR. MARQUARDT: So I'm not going to
19 change at all the lighting that's down on the
20 ground. So if we wanted to look at this as
21 property lines, the 11416 property line goes to the
22 edge of the carpet. Beyond that would be my
23 property. So when I put a shield on it to block
24 this amount of light shining over there, it doesn't
40
1 change the rest of their lighting on their
2 property.
3 Like I said, this came with the light.
4 I have them up here. You can purchase these for,
5 like I said, $20, $35, and they can be installed.
6 They're specifically designed for wall packs.
7 That's how these work.
8 MR. SCOTT: Commissioners, for your
9 edification, Exhibit 17 has a number of those.
10 MR. MARQUARDT: So when you install
11 it, you just bring it down until that light is no
12 longer reflecting out farther. And that's how it
13 works. You have all of the same brightness. I
14 didn't change the brightness on this property. All
15 I did was bring down that glaring light. The
16 direct light, I'm shielding that. That's why they
17 call it a cutoff. You're cutting off the direct
18 light. And they can do the same thing. They still
19 have light on their property. I'm not trying to
20 prevent them from having light. I just don't want
21 it on my property. I don't want it to affect me.
22 (Demonstration over.)
23 MR. SCOTT: Commissioners, that
24 concludes Mr. Marquardt's presentation. His wife
41
1 also wanted to make a very brief presentation.
2 MS. LILLY: I know this got moved. Is
3 this too close? Because we can move it back.
4 CHAIR JAMES: That's okay. We can
5 move it back when we're done. That's fine.
6 MS. LILLY: Thank you.
7 CHAIR JAMES: Tom, do you want to move
8 it? Okay. Thank you, sir.
9 MS. LILLY: Thank you.
10 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: You'll probably be a
11 little more comfortable anyway.
12 MS. LILLY: Do I smell?
13 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: No, you'd be more
14 comfortable, not me.
15 MS. LILLY: Commissioners, I want to
16 thank you first for taking this time to listen to
17 this appeal. I know that this isn't very common,
18 and we appreciate your time and attention today.
19 I first want to start by saying I love
20 this community. I live in this community. I work
21 in this community. I've been a prosecutor in this
22 community. I'm now a defense attorney in this
23 community. I opened a business in this community.
24 And part of my business is to defend indigent
42
1 defendants. That's about 90 percent of my
2 business. And my husband is the same. He's a law
3 enforcement officer in this community.
4 And we love being here. We work to
5 give back to this community. I'm a part of the
6 Housing Authority Board. I've started working
7 for -- in various capacities with the Boys and
8 Girls Club. And I work to inform the community
9 about legal rights through KFKA's morning show,
10 "Ask A Lawyer," a weekly segment.
11 And I bring that up because to live in
12 a community means that we have to live with one
13 another. Nobody in this community is an island
14 unto itself. And in order to do that, that means
15 that potentially we have to work together and come
16 to agreements and potentially compromises.
17 But part of the reason why Mr. Scott
18 outlined some of the efforts that we had made
19 previous to coming here today is because that is
20 what we were trying to do with the Adams. And I
21 hope that that is reflected in the case that you
22 have seen before you, that we have tried to work
23 collaboratively with our neighbors. And frankly,
24 they're our only neighbors in the community.
43
1 And even though I am in the legal
2 profession, and I regularly argue and fight, and
3 that's kind of part of my job, that's not what I
4 want to do when I get home. I want to come home
5 and I want to have peace. And to come here today
6 really was a significant decision for myself and my
7 husband, because we didn't want to be here and we
8 don't necessarily want to be fighting with our
9 neighbors. We don't -- not necessarily; we don't
10 want to be fighting with our neighbors.
11 And so I think taking all that into
12 account, going to why we are here, the first thing
13 I want to highlight is that we're not asking you to
14 change the Code. We're asking simply for
15 enforcement of it how it already exists.
16 The Code says, ". .shall shield."
17 And my husband demonstrated what a shield means and
18 why that doesn't impact the Adams in their everyday
19 life and how that could dramatically impact us in
20 our everyday life.
21 And then the second sort of thing that
22 I want to highlight is that even in reading
23 Mr. Parko's memorandum to you, he
24 distinguished -- and Mr. James picked up on
44
1 this -- that this is a matter of whether or not the
2 light shines `onto' our property, not necessarily
3 `into' our property.
4 But the reason why we're talking to
5 you about it shining `into' our home is because it
6 necessarily has to travel `onto' our property, and
7 it is shining `onto' our property to get `into' our
8 home. And the home is the reason why we're here,
9 is because my husband, who's a law enforcement
10 officer, can't sleep.
11 And I can tell you in the time that
12 I've been a law enforcement officer's wife, there
13 are very few things that I allow myself to worry
14 about. Because if you allow yourself to worry
15 about what he does every day for a living, I would
16 not be able to function.
17 And one of the things that I've
18 consistently worried about throughout his career is
19 whether or not he gets enough sleep. Because he's
20 been on night shifts, he's been on in-between
21 shifts, and he's on day shifts.
22 But if he doesn't get enough sleep,
23 all that training goes out the window, and it
24 becomes potentially fatal, not just for other
45
1 people in his decisions, but it becomes potentially
2 fatal for him. And that obviously is my highest
3 concern.
4 We are not in any way, shape, or form
5 arguing that the Adams don't have a right to farm.
6 I believe in the Right to Farm. As I indicated, I
7 live in this community. I love this community. My
8 husband and I bought the property that we bought
9 because we want to have the same rights.
10 We have some goals. We're not there
11 yet. We started with some chickens. But we have
12 some other goals about how we want to farm on our
13 property. And this in no way is a challenge or an
14 attempt to stop the Adams from farming how they see
15 fit on their property. We don't have any problems
16 with the horses or what they do on their property.
17 But I think that the Code is there for
18 a reason. And when the Code was put there, I'm
19 sure that something very similar was demonstrated
20 to whoever enacted the Code to understand what the
21 purpose of the shield was so that we weren't in
22 this position, where the difference between `onto'
23 and `into,' or a shield prevents any light from
24 being shielded and protecting their farm life.
46
1 And I also want the Commissioners to
2 know that we have tried. We have tried really hard
3 on our part to mitigate the harm that has come to
4 us. And my husband outlined some of that.
5 We've -- I purchased one round of blackout curtains
6 that didn't work. And I put up a second round of
7 blackout curtains. And that worked in our
8 bathroom, but it didn't work in our immediate
9 bedroom.
10 And so then I went out back, and I
11 found some wood and I put it on top of the curtains
12 to stop it from shining out. And we're not able to
13 open our windows and see the mountains, which is
14 part of why we bought that property as well.
15 And we went out and bought plants that
16 will eventually, in 10 to 20 years, create a
17 beautiful hedge that will help block out some of
18 that light. But we're not in a position where we
19 can prevent it completely from entering into our
20 home.
21 And we're really truly asking for two
22 things. We're asking for you to tell the zoning
23 and planning commission to enforce its Code, which
24 then in turn tells the Adams to spend approximately
47
1 $15 to $30 to put the shield to stop it from
2 entering onto our property line. It doesn't impact
3 how it lights up their horses and their property to
4 protect their livestock.
5 And so that's what we're requesting
6 today. Thank you.
7 MR. SCOTT: Commissioners, the only
8 thing I would add, in light of what Ms. Lilly said,
9 is to the extent you want to review the trail of
10 efforts that led up to today, I would point to
11 Exhibits 3 through 7, 9, 10 through 12, and 22, all
12 contained in your notebook, which we provided and
13 you can review at your leisure. Thank you.
14 MR. BARKER: Mr. Chairman, you may
15 want to ask Mr. Scott to just make a summation
16 about why he thinks the shielding fits within
17 Section 23-3-70.F. So just why that is -- that
18 that would be required. I think that's the
19 argument he's making, but I think you should give
20 him an opportunity to summarize that.
21 CHAIR JAMES: Fine suggestion.
22 MR. SCOTT: Thank you. Thank you,
23 Mr. Barker.
24 Commissioners, we turn our attention
48
1 back to the code as written. 23-3-70, Part F,
2 reads as follows, the most important sentence being
3 the very first: Sources of light shall be shielded
4 so that beams or rays of light will not shine
5 directly onto adjacent properties.
6 You heard the testimony from my
7 clients. You saw the photographs. You saw the
8 video. You saw a demonstration of what a wall pack
9 looks like. You saw solutions that are inexpensive
10 and reasonable.
11 We're simply asking that you enforce
12 the Code. And you're the only folks that can
13 actually require your Planning Department to take
14 action under the Code, as we've endeavored to do
15 all along. Shield the light.
16 CHAIR JAMES: Questions for Mr. Scott
17 or Mr. Marquardt or Ms. Lilly?
18 As Bruce suggested procedurally in the
19 very beginning, I think it is appropriate to open
20 the meeting for any comments from the public. Are
21 there any comments from the public on -
22 MR. BARKER: And just one caveat
23 there.
24 CHAIR JAMES: Oh, there's a caveat.
49
1 Okay.
2 MR. BARKER: The caveat is, does the
3 Code require enforcement, not if the adjacent
4 property owner wants to defend himself or herself.
5 That would be reserved for a time in court if there
6 are -- if there's an action that's brought against
7 him or her. That's not the issue. The issue is,
8 does it fit within the Code such that the code
9 needs to be enforced?
10 CHAIR JAMES: That's why he's the
11 County Attorney and I'm a disc jockey who won a
12 popularity contest.
13 Are there any comments from the public
14 pertaining to how this -- whether we should or
15 should not enforce our Code, how this interacts
16 with our Code?
17 Kindly state your name and address for
18 the record, sir.
19 MR. MORGAN: Good morning. My name is
20 Steven Morgan. I have a law office in Longmont,
21 Colorado, 721 Fifth Avenue. I represent Tom and
22 Dee Adams in this matter.
23 We're able to provide some context and
24 some response in your packet -- I believe it begins
50
1 at page 60 and the last 20 pages of your
2 packet -- which includes explanations and
3 photographs from the Adams' point of view.
4 Clearly the presentations today were
5 very emotional and the appellants are sympathetic.
6 We understand that there -- their complaints. But
7 the issue here today is whether the Code has been
8 enforced. And in our opinion, it has.
9 Everyone has kind of focused on the
10 language of the Code saying that the lights shall
11 be shielded. In my opinion, the focus should be on
12 the word, "directly." Is the light directly
13 shining on an adjacent property? In our situation,
14 the light is not. The light is bright. It totally
15 encompasses the land of the Adams.
16 It's necessary for them to be able to
17 see and for the protection of their horses and
18 security of their horses. There have been coyotes
19 in the area. I know that some of the chickens of
20 the neighbors have been lost due to coyotes. And
21 the light scares away the predators. In addition,
22 the -- we -- Dee has to go out at night to care for
23 sick horses. It allows her the security and
24 protection of being able to see.
51
1 But the light shines on the Adams
2 property. It lights up the stables, the sheds. It
3 does not go beyond the actual property. When you
4 look at the pictures that we provided, which are
5 attached in the packet, you'll see that the light
6 is shielded, and it ends pretty much at the
7 property line.
8 But beyond that, you know, as
9 sympathetic as the case may be, the Code as written
10 has been enforced, and it's been determined that
11 there's no violation with the light.
12 And with that, we'll leave you to it.
13 Thank you.
14 CHAIR JAMES: Okay. Any additional
15 comments from the public pertaining to our Code and
16 the enforcement thereof?
17 Seeing none, we'll close up public
18 comment.
19 Bruce, to add one more ingredient into
20 the stew, in order for an appeal to be -- in order
21 for this appeal to be overturned, help me. We need
22 three votes, is the bottom line?
23 MR. BARKER: You do.
24 CHAIR JAMES: Okay.
52
1 MR. BARKER: I mean, anything
2 that -- the Home Rule Charter says any resolution,
3 motion, or ordinance needs the affirmative vote of
4 three county commissioners. So all three of you
5 would need to go ahead and grant the appeal.
6 That's the issue, to grant the appeal or deny the
7 appeal.
8 CHAIR JAMES: You get to start. I'm
9 the Chair. I simply entertain motions.
10 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: Oh, my goodness.
11 You know, I really struggle a little bit with this,
12 because I can see that the light is impacting the
13 property. However, I'm struggling with the fact
14 that based on our Code, I don't think it's a
15 violation of the Code.
16 Even though as a good neighbor policy,
17 you know, maybe I'd try to make it shine less, but
18 I -- unless somebody else be here, I'm struggling
19 that it's a violation of our Code based on what
20 that Code says. But I don't know. Your turn,
21 Commissioner James.
22 CHAIR JAMES: I go to Commissioner
23 Buck next.
24 MS. BUCK: So I lived out west of
53
1 Greeley, 15 acres, and we had neighbors right
2 across the street. And they had barn lights and
3 they had pretty massive lights. And we
4 weren't -- I mean, the coyotes, creepy things, and
5 foxes took a couple of our turkeys.
6 But honestly, I feel that that
7 lighting does keep away predators. I'm not going
8 to judge the people of the lights, to deny or not
9 allow them to do what they feel that they have to
10 do for protecting their quality of life. I would
11 encourage them, though, to look at this furthering
12 shield, because to me, it does look like it's a
13 shield. It's not enough maybe for the complainant.
14 But again, I can't -- I can't
15 deny -- I feel it's just the Right to Farm and
16 protect their animals. It's -- when you're out in
17 the country, you are fighting predators. And it
18 could be wild dogs. It could be coyotes and foxes.
19 And if that's what you feel you need to do.
20 But on the other hand too, I would
21 encourage you to look at the $30 shield to be a
22 good neighbor. Not that you're a bad neighbor, but
23 that you would be conscientious of your neighbors;
24 on your own accord, you would do those things. But
54
1 I don't look at denying -- or I don't look at
2 supporting the appeal.
3 CHAIR JAMES: My turn May I just
4 state that right now the attorneys in the
5 room -- that company exempt -- outnumber the County
6 Commissioners in the room. So we've got that going
7 for us.
8 Secondly, I think there is a bit -- an
9 acknowledgment of an understanding that -- and I'm
10 just going to be completely frank in my
11 comments -- the absurdity of Weld County, a lawyer
12 in this thing up to help a decision between
13 neighbors. So let me just discuss a little bit of
14 a frustration with that. But that being said,
15 Mr. Scott, I acknowledge what you said in your
16 opening statement and the fact that when one is
17 grieved, where does one go to get relief from the
18 aggrievement?
19 So I guess there is -- the farm boy of
20 Lasalle, Colorado, kid in me that's a little
21 frustrated that we're at this point. But then
22 again, as we urbanize in our county and as things
23 conflict, I guess this is what we're going to be
24 faced with.
55
1 So there we get down to how does this
2 fit our Code? And all of a sudden we're
3 arguing -- to borrow a quote from the '90s -- it
4 depends on what the definition of "is" is. What it
5 boils down to is this `onto' or `into.' And we're
6 picking apart every word of our Code. And again,
7 there's kind of a -- it feels like it's an un-Weld
8 County thing to do. But that being said, that's
9 what this board is called on to do, is to uphold
10 our Code.
11 Sources of light shall be shielded so
12 that beams or rays of light will not shine directly
13 onto adjacent properties. We can argue about onto
14 or into. I think that they have demonstrated that
15 the light is impacting their life. Sources of
16 light shall be shielded. I think they have
17 demonstrated that a shield would make a world of
18 difference here.
19 I acknowledge the right of the Adams
20 to light their property. I acknowledge the right
21 of the Adams to protect their livestock. I
22 acknowledge that. I appreciate that. I expect it,
23 I guess, from them as responsible ag producers.
24 But there's also a responsible neighbor element
56
1 here as well.
2 And so I go back to that frustration
3 of I've got to make a decision for neighbors to get
4 along. And that's truly the frustrated statement
5 from me.
6 MS. BUCK: Mr. Chair?
7 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: Let Scott finish.
8 CHAIR JAMES: Yeah, let me finish up.
9 If you let me poke around at it long enough, I'll
10 get to a point.
11 Our codes: Sources of light shall be
12 shielded. Mr. Marquardt has demonstrated that a
13 shield would make a world of difference. This
14 Board is rightfully so. I support it. I'm glad
15 I'm a part of a board that respects private
16 property rights. I think that's inherent in all of
17 us. But private property rights are not only the
18 right for you to pursue happiness on your property,
19 but also to not prevent others from having
20 happiness on theirs.
21 So therefore -- I hate that I have to
22 make a ruling for somebody to be a neighbor -- I
23 would rule in favor of -- I would rule in favor of
24 the appeal, just because I -- I think it's been
57
1 exhibited that a -- there's a simple fix to a
2 problem that's causing -- that's preventing
3 somebody from pursuing happiness on their property.
4 That's my statement. I cannot make a
5 privileged motion. That's up to one of you.
6 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: So I don't disagree
7 with you, and that's kind of where I started out is
8 that I'm not sure that it's in violation of our
9 Code, but a simple fix would be -- and I guess if
10 it's not going to impact what they're actually able
11 to see on their property --
12 You know, for somebody that lives out
13 in the country, I mean, I've got four yard lights
14 out there because I don't have any neighbors, and
15 I've got coyotes out there that are going crazy,
16 and I'm putting them out -- they're out there to
17 protect my dogs, right.
18 And so I get the fact that you want to
19 be lighting up your property, you know. And it
20 doesn't impact me because they're yard lights. You
21 know, it's like every farm you ever see out there.
22 CHAIR JAMES: In Weld County.
23 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: There are yard
24 lights. If I didn't have a yard light, I wouldn't
58
1 be able to find my door because there is no lights
2 out there. There's no streetlights. There's
3 nothing. The only lights I've got are the yard
4 lights that I've got, and it's there for a couple
5 reasons.
6 It's there to -- it's there to protect
7 around the house, but it's also there for the same
8 reason that the Adams want lights, because
9 they're -- I mean, I sit there at night and listen
10 to the coyotes outside howling. They're thick out
11 that direction.
12 CHAIR JAMES: And you're not very big,
13 Mike. They might come get you.
14 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: Well, they might.
15 They can probably carry me off.
16 So I get the fact that we're trying to
17 light things up. I don't have the issue, because I
18 don't have any neighbors that would impact anyway.
19 But in this particular case, you know,
20 if a simple shield would still allow you to be able
21 to see everything that you're trying to protect,
22 and yet have a less impact to be good neighbors,
23 that's why I'm so struggling with this, because I
24 don't think it's in violation with our Code.
59
1 That's why I'm struggling. And yet
2 the right thing to do, in my opinion, would be
3 to -- as we always say, We don't end up in this
4 spot if everybody is just good neighbors. Most of
5 our conflicts -- and we're usually are able to
6 mitigate things pretty easily by neighbors working
7 together, getting along, is there something we can
8 do to make this less impactful. That's what we do
9 in every land use case. This is a little bit
10 different because it's not a land use case. It's
11 simply, we're trying to determine whether or not it
12 violates our Code.
13 MS. BUCK: And I'm just saying I look
14 at that light, and it's got a shield on top. If it
15 didn't, that's the difference. This light does
16 have a lid on it. So I think the light is
17 appropriate. All I would ask -- and I don't know
18 if we can ask the --
19 CHAIR JAMES: Now you've got
20 your -- you're ruling on your Code. What does your
21 Code say? You're either granting or denying.
22 MS. BUCK: I think that is a shielded
23 light. And I'm just saying that the other piece
24 would be an additional shield that I would
60
1 hope -- and I'd love to know if they would be
2 willing to do that so we don't have to go anywhere.
3 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: So wait. So I have
4 a question. So is the light that's on that
5 building just like this with the shield on
6 top -- with the lid on top, or is it completely
7 open, top and bottom and all around?
8 MR. MARQUARDT: It's the same as this.
9 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: It's the same as
10 this, yeah. Okay.
11 MR. MARQUARDT: And maybe you want to
12 come inspect the light. The light is actually all
13 the way forward. It's not like a top -shield.
14 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: Right. But the way
15 that shield is, there's no way that light can go
16 up. It's got to just go directly out.
17 MR. MARQUARDT: It can go up. When I
18 turned it on -- I could turn it on again if you
19 want --
20 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: No, I mean --
21 MS. BUCK: No, but I think that is the
22 shield.
23 MR. MARQUARDT: But I guess -- the
24 only thing I can say is I don't live above the
61
1 light.
2 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: No, I get that,
3 yeah.
4 MS. BUCK: And I think what I would
5 encourage -- and again, would love to hear the
6 party -- add an additional shield -- just
7 request --
8 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: But an additional
9 shield is not part of our Code.
10 MS. BUCK: I agree. I agree. But
11 I -- that's what I'm saying. I can't support the
12 appeal, but I would like to know if they would be
13 willing --
14 CHAIR JAMES: We can't ask that. What
15 we need to do is stay in the lanes of what -- we
16 are making a determination, whether or not we grant
17 the appeal or we deny the appeal to the decision of
18 the Director of Planning.
19 MS. BUCK: And I've made my point.
20 deny it.
21 CHAIR JAMES: I can't make a motion.
22 It's up to you all.
23 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: Well, it doesn't
24 matter how I vote, because if you're one way and
62
1 you're the other, my vote's irrelevant.
2 Go ahead and make the motion, then.
3 MS. BUCK: I make a motion to deny the
4 appeal, and encourage the plaintiffs --
5 CHAIR JAMES: That's out of line.
6 COMMISSIONER BUCK: -- to -- right.
7 But I'm just --
8 CHAIR JAMES: I know what you're
9 saying, but you can't make it a party motion
10 because it's -
11 MS. BUCK: But that's my motion.
12 MR. BARKER: Your motion is to deny
13 the appeal --
14 COMMISSIONER BUCK: Deny the appeal.
15 MR. BARKER: -- for the reasons that
16 you stated on the record?
17 MS. BUCK: Yes, because I believe that
18 it is in our Code, and I think this is a -- I don't
19 think this is a good thing for the future, is to
20 challenge what our Code is. And I'm comfortable
21 where our Code is. So based on the Code and staff
22 findings, that I deny the appeal.
23 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: Well, I guess I'll
24 second the motion so that we can actually -- well,
63
1 I'm still not sure how I'm going to vote, but I'm
2 going to second the motion, so it gets on the
3 table.
4 CHAIR JAMES: Okay. Motion by
5 Commissioner Buck, seconded by Commissioner Freeman
6 to deny the appeal. Further discussion?
7 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: You know, this is
8 one of those where I'm not sure -- I mean, I guess
9 when it says, "It shall shield," we don't have a
10 definition of what that means, though, of
11 whether --
12 CHAIR JAMES: Is is.
13 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: It is what is is,
14 right? So what I -- while I think that that could
15 be argued that that's a shield, but it's not really
16 what -- when it says, "shall shield," and when you
17 see the difference of a shield that still puts the
18 light on the entire property, yet doesn't nearly
19 impact the -- it's -- our Code is -- it's hard to
20 get through that Code, Bruce.
21 I struggle with it, because I don't
22 know exactly what -- I'm struggling with shining
23 directly on, versus directly into, because
24 it -- wherever the light starts, it's -- it
64
1 obviously starts on to whatever property it's on.
2 But whether that means that it's actually going
3 into the next property, that's a -- that's a
4 struggle for me.
5 So that being said, it doesn't
6 really -- my vote doesn't -- like I said, my vote
7 doesn't matter. So okay. I guess I'm done.
8 CHAIR JAMES: I'll make a comment real
9 quick. Sources of light shall be shielded. It's
10 not saying the light shall have a shield. It says,
11 "The sources of light shall be shielded so that
12 beams or rays of light will not shine directly onto
13 adjacent properties."
14 It is my belief that the -- and let me
15 acknowledge the humanistic aspect of this, because
16 I see the Adams sitting in the audience, and I have
17 met them in the past. I know them to be good
18 folks. I think you all are good folks. And so
19 here we've got a couple of good folks who are
20 making a decision.
21 There's also the humanistic aspect of
22 here's our Director of Planning, who has made the
23 decision, and now I have to go against the Director
24 of Planning's decision. It's not -- it's just
65
1 simply my interpretation of the Code, versus her
2 interpretation of the Code, not any sort of
3 reflection on who our Director of Planning is or
4 his competency, because he's supremely competent.
5 That being said, the way I read it,
6 "Sources of light shall be shielded so that beams
7 or rays of light will not shine directly onto
8 adjacent properties." I believe that Mr. Marquardt
9 has exhibited that sources of light are shining
10 onto his property.
11 So, therefore, I will be voting
12 against your motion, ma'am. And I think we've said
13 all we've got to say. So I need a roll call vote,
14 please.
15 THE CLERK: Perry Buck?
16 MS. BUCK: Yes.
17 THE CLERK: Steve Moreno? Lori Saine?
18 Mike Freeman?
19 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: You know, I'm going
20 back to rely on my -- on my Department of Planning
21 and our Planning Director to be able to read the
22 Code a whole lot better than me. So I will vote
23 yes.
24 CHAIR JAMES: And I will -- sorry,
66
1 you've got to call.
2 THE CLERK: And Scott James?
3 CHAIR JAMES: I will vote no. With
4 that being said, the appeal is denied because it
5 does need a 3-0 vote.
6 Thank you all for your time.
7 Oh, please.
8 MR. BARKER: The issue really is, was
9 there a motion to grant the appeal, meaning the
10 vote to deny failed. So the question is, you
11 should open it up as Chair, Is there a motion to
12 grant the appeal? And if there is, or it's not
13 seconded, then it dies on its own.
14 CHAIR JAMES: Chair would entertain a
15 motion to grant the appeal.
16 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: As the Chair, you
17 can make that motion if nobody --
18 CHAIR JAMES: The Chair cannot. By
19 Robert's Rules of Order - Chair cannot make a
20 privileged motion.
21 PRO-TEM FREEMAN: Okay. Well, then, I
22 guess --
23 CHAIR JAMES: I would look to my
24 parliamentarian.
67
1 MR. BARKER: No, you're good.
2 CHAIR JAMES: Okay. There is no
3 privileged motion. Therefore, the appeal is
4 denied.
5 Nothing fit further to come before the
6 Board, we'll stand adjourned at 10:42. Thank you.
7
8 10:42 a.m.)
9
(Audio proceedings concluded at
68
1 TRANSCRIBER'S CERTIFICATE
2
3 I, Rebecca J. Collings, a Colorado Realtime
4 Certified Reporter and Registered Professional Reporter
5 within and for the State of Colorado, do hereby certify
6 that I prepared the foregoing transcript from an audio
7 recording of the proceedings.
8 I further certify that the transcript is
9 accurate to the best of my ability to hear and
10 understand the proceedings.
11 I further certify that I am not an attorney,
12 nor counsel, nor in any way connected with any attorney
13 or counsel for any of the parties to said action, nor
14 otherwise interested in the outcome of this action.
15
16
17
18 REBECCA J. COLLINGS
Registered Professional Reporter
19 Colorado Realtime Certified Reporter
20
21
22
23
24
25
CERTIFICATE
STATE OF COLORADO)
ss
COUNTY OF WELD)
I, Esther E. Gesick, Clerk to the Board of Weld County
Commissioners and Notary Public within and for the State of Colorado,
certify the foregoing transcript of the digitally recorded proceedings,
In re: APPEAL OF THE DECISION BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING SERVICES CONCERNING CODE
COMPLIANCE COMPLAINT, COMP22-00160 — MICHAEL MARQUARDT
AND HAVILAH LILLY, before the Weld County Board of County
Commissioners, on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, and as further set forth on
page one. The transcription, dependent upon recording clarity, is true and
accurate with special exceptions(s) of any or all precise identification of
speakers, and/or correct spelling or any given/spoken proper name or
acronym.
Dated this 19th day of September, 2022.
aiitt,,-cdo,e4
Esther E. Gesick, Notary
Weld County Clerk to the Board
ORIGINAL (k)
CERTIFIED COPY ( )
Murphy Court Reporting, LLC
PO Box 753
Broomfield, Colorado
80038
Esther Gesick
egesick@weldgov.com
Invoice
r: Date
9/13/2022
Terms Project
Net 30
Description Rate
Audio Recording from 727/2022
2.25 Writing Hours
61 Certified Transcript of Audio Recording
Thank you for your business.
82-1347267 - Reporter Beckie Collings
Amount
25.00 i 56.25
457.50
Invoice for Transcript and Certification of Record
Esther E. Gesick, Clerk to the Board
1150 O Street, Greeley, Colorado 80631
(970) 400-4226 / egesick@weldgov.com
July 27, 2022, Appeal Hearing Transcript re: COMP22-00160 — Michael Marquardt and
Havilah Lilly (prepared by Dauster/Murphv and certified by Esther E. Gesick, Weld County
Clerk to the Board)
Transcript writing time 2.25 hrs X $25.00 = $ 56.25
Transcript pages 61 pgs X $7.50 = $457.50
SUBTOTAL: $513.75
+ CTB Case File preparation * hrs X $60.00 — $ **.00
+ CTB Transcript Certification 2.5 hrs X $60.00 = $150.00
SUBTOTAL: $150.00
GRAND TOTAL: $633.75
Staff Time Log
Transcript Cert Date Time Logged
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BELL, GOULD. LINDER &SC0TT, P.C.
ATTORNEYS AT LAW -OPERATING ACCOUNT
318 EAST OAK STREET
FORT COLLINS, CO 80524
PH: 970-493-8999
PAY
TO THE
ORDER OF Weld County
Bank of Colorado
FORT COLLINS, CO
82-244/1070
10582
9/30/2022
$ **633.75
Six Hundred Thirty -Three and 75/100************************************************************************************** DOLLARS
Weld County
Esther Gesick, Clerk to the Board
1150 O Street
PO Box 758
MEMO Greeley, CO 80632
H Lilly
10582
8
BELL, GOULD. LINDER & SCOTT, P.C.
ATTORNEYS AT LAW - OPERATING ACCOUNT
Weld County
Date Type Reference
9/27/2022 Bill Comp22-00160
BOC - Operating #405 H Lilly
9/30/2022
Original Amt. Balance Due Discount Payment
633.75 633.75 633.75
Check Amount 633.75
RECEIPT DATE /D --/7_O. NO. 91985
RECEIVED FROM Gr lLe/dLcv1[t�^/ ro- S&.n* p.c.
ADDRESS
Six T &,idred 7W Arid_ 191 00
FOR -TiThiscrre rt.: Appal pf Corr►p -OOIt.4
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$ 1D33.16
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