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County Hearing For Expansion
As reported in the last few newsletters, Wolf is in the process of appealing to our County to expand the Sanctuary and ease some of the other restrictions placed on us. We left off explaining the educational materials being sent to all neighboring properties within a 1.5 mile radius. Well, we extended that radius to include all properties within 2.5 miles, which ended up being nearly 400 parcels. The letters included explanation of Wolf procedures, regulations, and descriptions of the six amendments we wanted with our application. Those amendments are:
The ultimate goal in the expansion quest is to relocate all of the WideAwake animals to the Sanctuary. Their continued healing, both physically and emotionally, makes this a huge priority. |
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As you can see, our County is extremely restrictive and compromises our ability to accomplish our Mission. We feel what we are asking for is rather miniscule, and our history alone proves we are not a nuisance to our area. The neighbor letters also requested their input about our application. We received responses from 51 properties representing 82 area residents either in support or not opposed! In total, we only received 2 in opposition, and 4 with questions that we appropriately answered. We spent hours preparing documents including: an updated fire evacuation plan with an outlined “Survive-in-Place” strategy, sound test results, our concerns with previous fire testimony, statistics on neighbors in support, and statistics on surrounding property zoning as evidence that we are compatible in the area. Copies were provided to the Planning Department and each Commissioner. We also were fortunate enough to have a neighbor take us up on our offer to visit the facility in order to draw an accurate opinion of Wolf. They were so impressed by their visit that they became supporters and provided an invaluable amount of help. The couple donated the services of a media relations expert, created an educational video shown at the meeting, as well as great ideas and advice. We are very grateful for their support; thank you Mervyn and Gail! |
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The February 4th meeting date came fast. Many neighbors, volunteers, and supporters spoke in favor of Wolf . Unfortunately, the opposition showed in full force and continued the irrational fears and bold lies displayed at the first public hearing. When the County Commissioners made their final speeches, we knew the outcome. It certainly seemed fact and reason where again tossed out, and misconceptions and speculation ruled the day. Comm. Gibson voted denial without giving any reason, but stated he had no problem with Wolf having due process or longer reporting time. Comm. Rennels gave a long, emotional explanation for her denial full of inaccurate information. Comm. Eubanks asked our lawyer a few questions and we thought would vote denial too. He ended up being satisfied with the answers, and voted full approval. Thank you, Commissioner Eubanks, for reading the information provided and seeing through the myths and lies presented by the opposition. Wolf fully supports your upcoming election, and encourages Larimer County residents to do the same. All six amendments were denied in a single vote, even though the only one in contention was the number of animals. Although we are devastated, this process is not over. Please do not lose hope! We filed a lawsuit March 4 challenging that the Commissioners’ decision was an abuse of discretion. |
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Unfortunately, this article had to be revised very radically from the version which had been printed in our quarterly newsletter. Changing events and circumstances are identified below. Wolf had decided to take our concerns to the voters of Larimer County and let them decide whether or not our rights have been compromised. The Ballot Initiative process allows citizens to vote on these types of situations. We spent several weeks investigating the practicalities of accomplishing this successfully. We had a meeting with the County Clerk and Recorder, spoke with a number of lawyers, looked up similar situations on the internet and were amazed at how little information was really available. Even the lawyers were not very helpful as most had never been involved with a ballot initiative before. Finally we prepared a petition that would need to be reviewed and approved for format by the Clerk and Recorder. They had a week for their review. While we were waiting for the final approval, we developed the organization necessary to make this happen. We would need approximately 12,000 signatures of registered voters from Larimer County just to get it on the ballot for November. These would have to be submitted by August 6th. Meetings were held with volunteers who would help manage the process and then with all our volunteers who indicated that they would help circulate the petition. It was all coming together nicely and we were ecstatic about the response from our volunteers and supporters. Everything was ready to rock and roll -- all we needed was the approved petition format. Then the bomb hit. The County Attorney rejected our petition and all we were told is that it was not an "authorized question." Okay, what does that mean? As we proceeded to figure out the answer we were again shocked by what we discovered. Although municipalities and home-rule counties DO have these rights under the ballot initiative process, unincorporated counties or statutory counties do not. There is very little explanation in the statutes to justify this inequity and it obviously seems ridiculous. Likewise, after having met with the County Clerk/Recorder and Head of Elections for Larimer County beforehand, nothing to this effect was ever mentioned. After having our attorneys research further, it now appears that although the ballot initiative process exists for statutory counties, there are very few authorized measures which can actually be addressed with an initiative. Most of them revolve around taxing yourself more -- oh boy! This all seems to be a case of smoke and mirrors. To try to rectify a situation like this however, would require a bill or ballot initiative at the state level. Obviously, this kind of action is way beyond our capabilities to accomplish. We were already pushing our limits by considering a county-wide initiative. Although we are looking into this further and talking with several state legislators about this issue, we obviously have abandoned any plans for a ballot initiative. We are as committed as ever to our mission and to getting the WideAwake Wolves moved to the Sanctuary as we have ever been. We consider their move a matter of moral and ethical importance. There are a few other smaller approaches that we are still pursuing and are hopeful that they will help in the process. We likewise, welcome any other ideas you might have that will help. Bottom line -- the more we learn about the system that our elected officials have established, the more we are concerned for the future of our county, state and country. |
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WOLF, Post Office Box 1544, La Porte, CO 80535 - USA