Kuntz Denied Variances on Already Built, but Not Operating, Chickenhouse
By Thomas Wills
The rumours circulating in the early spring when the Kuntz (pronounced koon-tz) Ranch’s chicken layer house was being constructed on Redlands Mesa may have had some basis in fact. The word at the time was that at least part of the reason for building the chicken house was political and it would be used to test the County’s land use regulations. The first word that we at the Herald received from Redlands Mesa neighbors was that the intention was to build and populate the structure without submitting an application for a change of use under the requirements of the Delta County Regulation for Specific Development under which new confined feeding operations must be reviewed. A letter to the editor to the DCI by Travis Jardon of Citizens for Land Use Compatibility (CLUC) repeated this charge.
But upon checking with County Administrator, Robbie LeValley, we were told that veterinarian/rancher David Kuntz had indeed submitted a specific development application and it was working its way through the process. Kuntz, while the building was under construction, was sent an official letter by the County making him doubly aware of the legal requirements. Since Delta County is one of a few counties in Colorado that has not adopted basic zoning, a building code or a building permit system, Kuntz was not under a legal obligation to get County approval to construct the 27,000 square foot chicken layer building. However, the populating of the building and the operation of the business will require a conditional use review and permit. Since the approval of such a permit cannot legally be guaranteed, building the structure first and asking for a change of use permit later placed the enterprise under a certain level of risk. But since the structure was placed in a relatively remote location some half mile from the nearest neighbor who was openly supportive of the enterprise a permit seemed a near sure thing. Kuntz went so far as to move to order 20,000 chickens for his new building. This order was cancelled after his initial application was rejected and he complained about the delays despite the fact that it probably could have been avoided by beginning the application process earlier, before construction was begun.
Then in a front page story in the July 1, Delta County Independent, it was reported that Kuntz’s first specific development application had been rejected by the planning department as incomplete. According to the story Kuntz was challenging certain basic requirements that have been applied to other specific changes of use, and used in reviewing two previous chicken layer houses. This included applying for a new driveway permit and submission of a drainage plan. At the June 22 Delta County Commissioners’ meeting Kuntz accompanied by his attorney, Ben Wegener, of Grand Junction requested two “waivers” for the driveway permit and drainage plan. This request for a variance from County regulation was not first reviewed by the Delta County Planning Commission, which had not been meeting regularly.
According to the DCI story four days after consultation with the County Attorney in a closed-to-the-public executive session (on June 22) the Commissioners, on June 26 the Commissioners announced that a letter had been sent to Kuntz denying his waiver/exception requests. Kuntz’s option is now to either submit a complete application including a drainage plan and obtain a driveway permit for the new facility or to sue the county and let the barn sit empty for an extended period of time.
Kuntz, who is an active member of the Delta County Farm Bureau, previously publically supported the call for the County to challenge a District court ruling that shut down a similar, slightly smaller chicken barn on Powell Mesa that was much closer to neighbors. The challenge was ultimately successful but the Western Slope Layers barn has yet to reopen due to a delay in reversing the court order as well as other factors.
Kuntz also complains that the County is not following the recommendations of their advisory (as judged by the Colorado Court of Appeals) Master Plan in encouraging and protecting agriculture. He also is of the opinion that agriculture is allowed special business rights under the so-called Colorado right-to-farm law and a similar County resolution. “Right-to-Farm” was developed in the 1990’s to offer limited protection to existing agricultural operations from nuisance lawsuits brought by encroaching residential and commercial development. According to the courts the measures do not exempt new farm operations such as CAFOs (Confined animal feeding operations) or “factory farms” as they are also known in the popular media, from being regulated by State and local jurisdictions. Like non-agricultural “factories” the main concern with such facilities is the possibility of air and water pollution. The major issue with the Powell Mesa barn was the release, due to powered ventilation, of fine particulates that included dander allergens.
Counties that have zoning, such as neighboring Montrose and Mesa Counties, usually deal with reviewing and approving such proposals administratively and building permits are not issued until the approvals are complete.
Tags: Chickens, David Kuntz, Hotchkiss