Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Man claims permit was wrongly denied
ODESSA — A local man whose application for a conditional use permit to grow marijuana indoors on a property north of town was denied is suing Lincoln County and a Montana man after the commissioners denied his application Monday, Aug. 7.
In a petition for review of land use decision filed in Lincoln County Superior Court Thursday, Aug. 17 against the county and Ervin Schmelebeck of Kalispell, Zach Schmelebeck claimed that the commissioners erroneously adopted a Hearing Examiner’s report that the proposed pot grow was within a half mile of a residential property or structure, which is prohibited under the county code.
The petition claims that the “appropriate decision would be to approve the production operation, but deny processing.”
Wilbur-based attorney Joshua Grant acted as the hearing examiner in Zach Schmelebeck’s case, finding that the proposal for an indoor pot grow would violate county code. The commissioners later followed that recommendation.
The prayer for relief includes a reversal of the commissioners’ decision, determining that the half mile setback in the county code applies to outdoor operations and remanding the matter for approval of the conditional use permit application as to indoor production operations.
The proposed grow was for a 3,750 square foot building on State Highway 21 north of Odessa.
Commissioner Rob Coffman said the board couldn’t offer comment due to the legal nature of the proceedings.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
Reader Comments(0)