Judge dismisses SGC’s lawsuit against Fremont County

Smart Growth Coalition pressured Fremont County into repealing an amendment that would have allowed open space to be turned into high density developments, but lost a suit that asked the court to invalidate developments approved before the amendment was repealed.

ST. ANTHONY — On August 11, Seventh District Judge, Greg Moeller, dismissed a lawsuit filed against Fremont County by the Ashton-based Smart Growth Coalition (SGC).  

The suit was an effort by Smart Growth Coalition’s Board of Directors and members to make the county protect farmland from high density development — a stated goal in the county’s development code that SGC said was threatened by an amendment the county passed. Written by Chester resident, Stephen Loosli, it’s known as the Loosli Amendment.

The Fremont County Commission passed the Loosli Amendment in June 2007, in the middle of a development boom in the county that had the potential to turn thousands of acres of farm and ranch land into subdivisions.

SGC filed a lawsuit asking the court to void  the amendment. SGC charged that its passage was flawed because the proposed amendment was not properly advertised in the county’s newspaper of record, it did not contain an analysis of its fiscal impacts to the county, and there were other procedural errors.

In January 2008, the commission repealed the amendment.

Several subdivision applications were filed during the months the amendment was in place, and SGC asked the court to declare some of these subdivision applications invalid because the Loosli Amendment had been declared invalid.

The county argued that SGC’s request was not justified because none of the subdivision applications had gotten past the first phase of the approval process. Judge Moeller’s decision supports the county, but,a search of county records shows that the there were development applications to which the Loosli amendment could have been and/or was applied:

• Phase I - P & Z Sketch Plan, Complete Application: Cold Water Canyon, 2-11-08; White Tail, 2-25-08.

• Phase II - P&Z Public Hearing and Approval: Otto Garz Ranch, 6-02-08, has final P&Z plat approval, but not all conditions have been met for Phase III, BOCC approval; 7 Bar S, 8-11-08.

• Phase III - Final Recorded Plat: Hare's Ear - Plat recorded 8-11-08, no Building Permit applications recorded; River Rock (Originally named Cobblestone) - Plat recorded 4-28-08, no Building Permit applications recorded.

SGC had also asked that testimony to the court regarding this case provided by Planning and Zoning Administrator, Kurt Hibbert, should not be considered because Hibbert was not the administrator when the amendment was passed and repealed. The court ruled that Hibbert could provide valid information by reading records on the issue.

In a news release Monday, County Attorney, Joette Lookabaugh, said she will ask the court to order SGC to pay the county’s court costs, which she said are between $60,000 and $80,000.

The county hired outside counsel to handle the case when the prosecuting attorney at the time, Karl Lewies, refused to handle it. He felt that the commission did not listen to his advice about how to follow proper procedures preparing the ordinance for public review.

The attorney the county then hired advised the commission to repeal the amendment as soon as possible.

In the news release, Lookabaugh boasts, “This two-year-old case was on my desk when I took office. I immediately brought it in-house to stop the outside legal fees and my civil deputy and I got it dismissed in six months. The basis of the dismissal was that no justifiable conflict actually existed, there were no material issue of facts. Good faith on the part of Smart Growth would been to have dropped the lawsuit after the ordinance was repealed and it was obvious that no developments were approved under the Amendment.”

SGC’s president, Chan Atchley, said the Board of Directors will meet and decide the organization’s next step.

SGC is a nonprofit organization with a seven-person Board of Directors. Founded by concerned citizens in 2006, SGC has grown to more than 600 members — all stakeholders in the county. One of its stated purposes is to “provide a united voice against senseless development that destroys our way of life and natural resources, reduces property values, and results in higher taxes.”

In the news release, County Commission Chairman, Paul Romrell, is quoted as stating that SGC is an “outside interest group with little connection to the county,” but Atchley and his family have deep roots in Fremont County.

Atchley grew up in the foothills east of Ashton, farming and ranching. He and his wife, Judy, live in the house where he grew up, east of Ashton.

Stephen Loosli moved to Fremont County in 2005 from Utah. He recently founded Okosphare, LLC, a land use consulting company. Its Web site (okosphare.com) states that the company, “can help you deeply examine new, out-of-the-box approaches to problem solving and opportunity harvesting. Allow us to review alternative uses for your land, direct you in sustainable building practices, or help you capitalize on new energy resources.”

This is part of the August 13, 2009 online edition of The Island Park News.

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