Grant County argues company violated permit

Prosecutors argued J K Recycling violated a permit when it started running a recycling business.

The county claimed Vern and Kelly Hellewell's initial application for a conditional use permit stated they planned to use the site to hold junk car bodies before transporting them to a salvage yard, according to court records.

The application was submitted in November 2006, and the county claims by February 2007 part of the property was being used as a wrecking and salvage yard, according to court records. The county sent a notice to correct, and cease and desist to the company in March 2007.

When a hearing examiner approved the permit in April 2007, the county claims it only allowed the company to store vehicles on the property for one or two months, and didn't allow him to operate a salvage or recycling facility, according to court records.

After sending one more notice to cease operating a salvage yard, the county issued four civil infractions between Sept. 24, 2008, and Jan. 21, 2009, according to court records.

"This is a case where the defendant's activities far exceed just a technical permit violation," civil deputy prosecutor Lee Pence said. "What the county is asking for is that the defendants be enjoined from purchasing or accumulating scrap metal; that is the thrust of the preliminary injunction."

Pence pointed out two findings by the hearing examiner. The first was the area wouldn't be open to the public. The second was the storage yard "would be used as a short-term holding for disabled vehicles prior to hauling them to another location."

Antosz questioned whether he could stop people from purchasing scrap metal, asking whether it would go beyond the zoning restrictions.

"What we're talking about is a real estate use, not necessarily a permit," Antosz said. "This order doesn't say how you use the land. It says the defendants are restrained from purchasing ... Under the language you have, Mr. Hellewell couldn't purchase scrap metal for a friend who legally has the zone to allow that."

Pence said language in the order could address that, linking the order with the land being used.

"It's the purchase, not only the storage and the accumulation, but the purchase of the scrap metal that is driving the nuisance," he said.

As part of the injunction the county needed to prove the violation was creating a public nuisance. The prosecutors alleged Hellewell was purchasing stolen metal, and it created a nuisance.

"Well, if he wakes up in the morning, he's driving it too," Antosz pointed out. "How far do you draw that line? I think we're dealing with zoning ordinances and what you can do on this property."

Pence said it may seem unfair to close a business, but it's a business which shouldn't have opened.

"The defendants have expressed if they're enjoined from purchasing, storing or accumulating scrap metal, it will put them out of business, but their business is really this storage of auto bodies," he said.