By Michael J. Fasbender - Your Turn - 07/23/07

Montana - The private property rights of thousands of tax-paying citizens are being trampled by the current Lewis and Clark Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and County Attorney’s office.

Time and time again, when a majority of citizens have stood up and spoken our county officials have not listened. So, once again private citizens are faced with trying to fix a problem in which the only option is to turn to the courts, and thus I have had my attorney file another action against the BOCC’s passage of Interim Zoning.

One of the problems is that we have a County Attorney’s office and BOCC that seem to think that they get to make law, and in the process are even entitled to ignore the law. Members of the County Attorney’s office and BOCC have even publicly challenged individuals to “go ahead and sue us” if you don’t like it. There have also been statements such as, “the law says what I say it does, until a court says differently.” This type of arrogant attitude is uncalled for from public servants, is an unnecessary waste of taxpayer dollars, and further harms citizen faith in government.

The BOCC did not follow the legislatively mandated procedures required for the implementation of zoning. State law is very clear; the BOCC has to provide proper notice and hearing for ANY type of zoning. Part of these notice and hearing requirements established by the legislature in Montana Code Annotated 76-2-205 include a provision for a citizen protest. By not allowing a protest, the BOCC has circumvented public involvement and in so doing violated the constitutionally protected due process rights of every citizen in the Helena Valley Planning area.

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