Land use enforcement not uniform.

Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By Jim Gillette For The Register-Guard

In his Sept. 15 guest viewpoint, Robert Emmons states that land use laws are being broken while Lane County government looks the other way. This is true only in certain cases. Many violations are ignored, but if county officials decide to make an example of you, they can make your life absolutely miserable.

The Cottage Grove Speedway that Emmons mentions is a good example. Most who live nearby support the speedway. It has been in existence for more than 50 years. But because a couple of pushy people decided they wanted to change everything, Lane County became their weapon.

Yes, a weapon. Emmons says the land use compliance system is complaint driven, and he's right. Neighbors use the compliance program as a weapon against other neighbors. Compliance officers will tell you that they drive by hundreds of properties with violations to reach one that has been the subject of a complaint. I am a victim of this.

Several years ago, when local governments were paying about $350,000 to operate a camp for 40 homeless families during the summer months, I had at least 30 families living on my property year round at no cost to the taxpayers. No dogs, no drugs, no problems - it was a clean operation.

But because I had the audacity to apply for a permit to create a paintball park for kids, I was singled out by neighbors and the county inspectors came. They wrote me up for every structure on my property - including 60-year-old barns and mobile homes that had been there for more than 20 years. They said I had to get building permits for everything, and that all the RVs, school buses, teepees and other structures that the homeless were living in had to be removed immediately.

The county issued an ultimatum: Unless everyone was gone by June 1, 1996, I would be fined $600 a day. Though many had difficulty finding places to live, all of the families were gone by the deadline. The county compliance officer didn't believe me when I told him they were gone. It took the county 20 days to check - and by that time, the fines totaled $12,000.

In order to appeal a fine, you first have to pay the fine. Because I couldn't do that, the appeal period ran out and the fine became a lien against my land. Nowhere else, other than traffic court, do you have to pay the fine before you are convicted. We don't accuse people of murder, hang them and then give them the right to appeal. But that's what we do with land use violations.

No one in county government seems to care. The fine is still there. I'm treated like a criminal, when all I was doing was trying to help people. We eventually had to drop the paintball park application, even though we prevailed in early parts of the approval process, because we ran out of money. Everything was quiet for a few years. The county left me alone, but unbeknownst to me, the fine was still drawing interest.

This year, I applied for a permit that would allow my property to be used as a multiuse recreation site. Again, the neighbors came down on me - even though I assured them that these activities have been going on here for years without bothering anyone. If the land is designated as a park, I could get grant money to build fences, improve roads and the like - which is what the neighbors want.

The county compliance officer was called in. Now they are talking about foreclosing on me, because the 1996 fine is up to $19,000. The compliance officer did not even ask my side of it. I was just slapped with another $6,700 fine for allowing paintball. This was not a commercial enterprise; I simply allowed people to play paintball on my property. Yet the county said that because I was denied the paintball permit years ago, I had committed a violation. No one has been able to show me a law stating that allowing paintball on a noncommercial basis is illegal.

We all want to be good neighbors. I want to show my neighbors that I can have a multiuse park without infringing on anyone else's enjoyment of their land.

The county has to stop being the bully-boy for disgruntled neighbors. All I ask is to be treated like everyone else. If they are going to make me pay my fines and foreclose on me, they need to show me why violations on other properties are not enforced or foreclosed on.

Enforcement has to be uniform. If they single me out, or anyone else, then it is time for county citizens to stick together and say "enough of this." And changes must be made so that people can defend themselves without going bankrupt.

Jim Gillette lives on 400 rural acres southwest of Eugene.