County seeks to stop recycling company
EPHRATA - Grant County is trying to stop a Moses Lake business from processing scrap metal.
The county is pursuing an injunction against J K Recycling to prevent them from purchasing, storing or accumulating scrap metal, maintaining and promoting a recycling operation and conducting any business.
The prosecutor's office claims there have been 31 complaints about wire theft related to the company, and the owners, Vern and Kelly Hellewell, don't have the proper permits to run a recycling center on their property, according to court records.
Defense Attorney Harold Moberg called the allegations relating to wire theft puzzling, saying he doesn't see any documents supporting them in the file.
The county claims the initial application for the Hellewells' 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.
They submitted the application in November 2006, and the county claims by February 2007, they began using a portion of the property 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 Hellewells to store vehicles on the property for one or two months and didn't allow them 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.
Moberg pointed out three of the violations were dismissed by the prosecutor's office before the owners were fined because of the last one.
"He was issued a permit on April 11, 2007, for an outdoor storage yard for short-term storage, which included the right to take scrap and collect it," he said. "He has an outdoor storage yard and he's been doing that since 2007."
Moberg said the business will be moving from the agricultural zone it's in to a industrial zone, allowing the business to operate without needing a conditional use permit.
"The planning department has a comment period that ends on April 11," he said. "I think the deputy prosecutor dismissed the violations because (the owner) was trying to comply with the conditional use permit ... I don't know why the prosecutor's office is doing what they're doing."
Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz continued the hearing on the permit a week to allow time for the attorneys to file briefs concerning the injunction.
Civil Deputy Prosecutor Lee Pence objected to the continuance, alleging the extra time would allow the company to purchase more stolen metal.
"We couldn't get this case to Your Honor fast enough," Pence said. "They're purchasing stolen metal. They continue to do this and they show no intention of stopping. So now they have an additional seven days to do this."
Antosz initially said he was unclear about what Pence was saying. After Pence offered an explanation, Antosz pointed out other remedies existed for criminal activity.
"If you mean illegally because it's in violation of the (conditional use permit) that's one thing. That is a violation of the zoning ordinance," Antosz said. "If, instead, you were throwing out this word illegally within the same paragraph as stolen, you mean that they're going to continue, in your position, to take in stolen property. That is a different proposition and that can be addressed a lot of different ways, including a search warrant."
Antosz also said state law sets a fairly low threshold for an initial continuance.
"With the fact pattern I see here, I don't see why it can't be continued for one week," he said. "If you have some showing that there's going to be some irreparable harm for a continuance of one week that someone is violating a zoning ordinance, let me know."
Pence argued an affidavit from Kelly Hellewell, showed he purchased stolen tire rims.
Moberg pointed out the affidavit also stated Kelly Hellewell showed the owner the rims, and called police about the stolen items.
"Part of due process is to get things done on time, but it's also to avoid doing things in haste," Antosz said. "The testimony I've got here is there's been some stolen tires that have been brought in and I don't have a basis to conclude from the file that this has to be done today and not next Friday."