Grant County Concerned Citizens v. Grant County Board of Adjustment

Teton, LLC sought to construct and operate a concentrated animal feeding operation for swine (CAFO). Teton filed its application for a conditional-use permit with Grant County Board of Adjustment (the board) (defendant) on December 18, 2012. On the same day, the Tylers, members of the Grant County Concerned Citizens (the citizen group) (plaintiff) completed excavation for a new water well on their property. At the public hearing for Teton’s application, Mrs. Tyler commented that CAFO would be within 2,640 feet of the recently constructed well on her property, which would be a violation of the Grant County zoning ordinance. The well produced 12 gallons of water on December 18. The administrative record contains a well-completion report, but the report did not indicate when the excavation began or how long the well had been operating. Teton asserted that the Tylers built the well simply to frustrate its application. The board considered whether the Tylers’ well met the statutory definition of a well, which required that it be constructed for the purpose of obtaining groundwater. The board determined that the purpose of the Tylers’ well was to frustrate Teton’s application rather than to obtain groundwater given the circumstances, so the well was not a well within the meaning of the zoning ordinance. Accordingly, the board approved Teton’s application. The citizen group appealed to the circuit court. The citizen group argued that the presence of the Tylers’ well unambiguously precluded the board from granting Teton a conditional-use permit. The circuit court found that the board had acted within its authority in determining that the well did not meet the definition of a well under the zoning ordinance and in granting Teton a conditional-use permit. The citizen group appealed.