Gravel-pit owner loses appeal to high court

A property owner who wanted to extract gravel from his land along Farm-to-Market Road has lost his appeal before the Montana Supreme Court.

The high court ruled Wednesday that Flathead County District Court acted correctly in granting the Flathead Board of Adjustment's motion to dismiss a complaint filed by Robert J. Beasley.

Beasley sued both Flathead County and its Board of Adjustment following a dispute over a gravel-pit permit, then appealed the District Court decision to the state Supreme Court.

Beasley bought his property from Arthur and Dorothy Hanson in 1997 and assumed a conditional-use permit to allow a gravel-pit operation stayed with the property.

The county zoning administrator initially agreed that the permit could be transferred, but after Flathead Citizens for Quality Growth appealed that decision, the Flathead Board of Adjustment denied the permit transfer to Beasley in 2006.

Beasley appealed the board's decision to District Court. The citizens group intervened to defend the board's decision, and Beasley moved to dismiss the appeal before the court had rendered a decision.

A District Court judge later dismissed Beasley's petition with prejudice.

Eventually Beasley filed a petition for a writ of mandamus, alleging the Board of Adjustment had denied the permit transfer without providing any rationale for the denial.

He claimed he spent more than $2 million "in reliance upon his ability to extract gravel from the property."

The board filed a motion to dismiss the case, and the District Court agreed, noting that a writ of mandamus - an extraordinary writ commanding an official to take action - wasn't the appropriate mechanism for the relief Beasley requested.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com