Red Lake Junction Railroad operater Robbie Diehl works on one of his miniature steam locomotives. Officials with Coconino County have recently raised concerns over Diehl’s operation, which offers public rides on weekends.Patrick Whitehurst/WGCN
Posted on 04/17/2009 7:39:24 AM PDT by CedarDave
WILLIAMS - The Red Lake Junction Railroad may be in for some rough weather, as Coconino County officials decide how to classify the local attraction. The local model steam engine, which offers free rides to the public each weekend, may be forced to cease its activities should a suitable agreement not be reached between the property owner and development officials. County officials sent a letter to Robbie Diehl, owner and operator of the railroad, March 20 asking that he cease all rides and remove the railroad track from his land. According to the letter, Diehl is currently in violation of zoning ordinance, section 9.1.
Coconino County Community Development Assistant Director Sue Pratt said they are hoping to meet with Diehl in early May to talk about the model railroad.
"Having a hobby railroad on your property is not a problem. Having a public attraction brings it into a different realm," Pratt said. "We need to determine how to classify the use, so that we can determine what steps the property owner needs to take in order to get it in conformance with the zoning. Where they are inviting the public to the property and offering rides, I understand, brings it into a use that's not just a permitted use. It makes it appear to be more of a commercial operation. We need to sit down with the property owners and have them explain it."
Officials notified Diehl of his violation, due to the fact that model railroads are not specifically mentioned as an allowable operation under Zoning Ordinance Section 9.1.
"If it's not listed it's prohibited," Pratt said. "What we allow people to do, if it's not a listed use, is to come in and explain how it might fit under a different use."
(Excerpt) Read more at williamsnews.com ...
Red Lake Junction Railroad operater Robbie Diehl works on one of his miniature steam locomotives. Officials with Coconino County have recently raised concerns over Diehl’s operation, which offers public rides on weekends.Patrick Whitehurst/WGCN
Six words in her job title and I still have no idea what she does besides hassle decent citizens.
..how bout it makes kids happy?
Wow! Now where did I put my blood pressure medications?
There are several kind of scary things the public officials said.
First was they said it was a “commercial operation”, when he doesn’t charge anything. It seems that is a charity operation, not a commercial one. It suggests that you couldn’t allow your kids to bring their friends over to play on a trampoline, since that would be “the public” using a device on your land.
Second was they say that anything that isn’t permitted by zoning is prohibited. Now, they then say the homeowner can explain how a use matches an existing use, but it seems to me the zoning should be a list of prohibited things, not a strict list of all the things you are allowed to do on your property.
Third, they said it was OK for him to have the train on his property — but then as a resolution of the “problem” of having the public ride it, they told him to remove it. Why not just forbid him to give the public rides, and fine him if he continues? Under what authority can they tell him to remove something from his land that they admit he is allowed to have, simply because they object to HOW he is using that item?
If he had a pool, and allowed the public to use it, would the remedy be to remove the pool?
It isn’t unreasonable for the county to enforce zoning, I just don’t see this being a fair application, simply from what was written in the article.
In other words, if we don't give you permission to do it, you cannot do it.
Absolutely stunning!
Government at its finest.
Simple Solution.. MODIFY the zoning, or give the man a variance... The idea that he must match the letter of the laws when he clearly is a special case is nonsense. This is what VARIANCES are for.
Soviet Union's philosophy. And I'll bet not one person in county government understands that.
If Diehl elects to give the produce of either of these two new operations to the public at no charge, and no tax revenue, will Ms. Pratt be satisfied?
..wanna guess? I 'll give you a hint, she's not Swedish
Notwithstanding the county zoning issue, if he is giving free kiddie rides, he’d better have plenty of insurance. One accident (eg. kid falls off) and a lawyer will have him and his operation for lunch.
I don’t see anywhere that it mentions how long this has been in operation.
Tyranny 1, Liberty 0
Probably for some time — just for the work needed to build and set up the layout. See the website and the video. Lots and lots of painstaking work. These type of operations are usually called “garden railroads” and are popular with some folks. Definitely a labor of love - until the government gets involved for whatever reason.
There’s a guy inbetween Canyon Estates and Carlito Springs that has one of these setups. Found it when hiking, what a surprise.
When the owner writes a check the “problem” will be resolved.
That is what I figured, but was conveniently left out. I smell a new neighbor of the guy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.