Litigation authorized for scofflaws

SANDPOINT — Bonner County is gravitating back toward civil litigation rather than criminal prosecution to deal with land use scofflaws.

“It gives us better options with abatement,” Planning Director Clare Marley said.

Marley said judgments and fines in criminal court do not always guarantee compliance with the county’s land use code.

County commissioners authorized litigation Tuesday against more than 20 landowners who built structures

without the requisite permits. The slug of litigation also includes actions against two landowners with enough derelict vehicles and scrap materials on their land to qualify as junkyards under county code.

Commissioners approved the legal actions without discussion. The item was on the board’s consent agenda.

All but two of the 23 cases involving structures constructed without building location permits.

One of the accused permit violators also has a setback violation and another has floodplain issue involving a bathroom, Marley said.

Two of the civil cases involve zoning violations for junkyards, both of which are at the heart of acrimonious neighborhood disputes, according to Planning Department records.

Baldy Mountain resident Leon Ford Atkinson’s collection of vehicles has been a source of consternation for more than a decade. Planning department records indicate there have been 10-20 vehicles on the property over the years, sparking complaints about neighborhood aesthetics and concern over environmental harm.

Atkinson, 61, disputes the county’s authority to regulate the use of private property. Atkinson, who is black, accuses his neighbors of being racists, Planning Department records indicate.

A junkyard in the Upper Pack River Valley is the subject of another dispute. There are 20-30 vehicles on Michael George Gervasi’s property off A Street and neighboring landowners have lodged repeated complaints.

Gervasi, 41, allegedly made threats against the complainants, county records say.

Civil litigation was used to compel Lawrence Christen Heidekker to clean up a junkyard on Peninsula Road near Priest River. Another civil action is pending to resolve a junkyard issue on property Heidekker co-owns at 9491 Eastside Road.

Criminal prosecution, however, has so far failed to persuade a landowner to clean up a junkyard in Sagle, court documents indicate.

Frank William Wolfram, 61, was convicted last fall of maintaining an unpermitted use on land he owns at 31 Cedar Hill Road. He was given a suspended 90-day jail sentence and one month to rid the property of vehicles and scrap materials.

He was ordered back to court in February to explain the lack of progress in cleaning up the property, but failed to appear at the hearing and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.