Judge blocks injunction against local landownerby Heidi Toth - Daily Herald
The landowner of a coveted piece of property is moving forward to mine his land, even with all the legal attempts to stop him.
Richard Davis got a victory in 4th District Court on Thursday morning when Judge James Taylor refused to grant a preliminary injunction that would block Davis from excavating rocks from his land in Rock Canyon on the west side of Provo. It was the latest decision in a legal battle that’s raged for several years and involves a number of parties, including state Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, who is one of the parties being sued.
The injunction was premature, Taylor said, although Davis has applied for a conditional use permit from Provo city and has begun the application process for a permit from the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining to begin.
Michael Zundel, his attorney, said once the paperwork is in place, his client will move forward with the mining, which has halted in October 2003 when residents near Rock Canyon called the city in protest.
“If he gets the permits, he’ll mine,” Zundel said. “Whether he can get those permits while it’s still tied up in court, I suppose is a question.”
The 84.5 acres at the mouth of Rock Canyon is co-owned by Davis and Red Slab, LLC, which Valentine and associate Phil Lowry began for the specific purpose of preserving the land. They gave their interest to Provo city as a conservation easement, thus ensuring it cannot be developed. Lowry and Valentine are contending that as co-owners of the land, they have a say in what happens and Davis can’t develop without their cooperation.
Zundel, however, said they were overstepping their bounds and illegally blocking his client from doing as he wished with his half interest in the property. He argued that by giving away a conservation easement, Red Slab “encumbered” Davis and deprived him of the full value of his interest.
“It is a cloud on this property,” he said.
Lowry disagreed, saying the conservation easement was not what the argument between the two co-owners was about; the focus instead should be on co-tenancy law and what expectations each side has. If Davis wanted the discussion to be a partition action, in which the property would just be divided up and half given to each co-owner, they should be looking at that, he said.
“He can’t sue us simply because we have a disagreement over how the property is supposed to be used,” Lowry said.
Valentine’s personal involvement also came under scrutiny; Davis and Zundel allege that because he took illegal actions against Davis, he should be held personally liable and thus be sued individually. Zundel acknowledged that Valentine’s actions were on behalf of Red Slab but said that didn’t protect him, particularly given the arrangement with Provo city that Red Slab would take on all of the costs of the conservation easement.
“This lawsuit’s simply what they were expecting,” he said.
Not so, said Lowry, who did all the legal representation in court Thursday since Valentine is a defendant.
“We haven’t sued Mr. Davis on the basis that he has committed a tort against us because he wants to mine,” he said, arguing that Red Slab’s intentions had always been clear; the two men wanted to preserve the land, and Davis’s responsibility as a co-owner was to consider their desires as well. Valentine shouldn’t be held liable, he said, because neither he nor the company had acted illegally.
“The fact that we have disagreements is not a tort.”
There is also a question of how much of an interest Red Slab actually owns. Red Slab bought a quarter interest from part owner Greg Sperry, then purchased an option from part owners Stephen and Loren Kapelow for their quarter interest. Different interpretations of the agreement and a sudden reluctance from the owners to sell resulted in the issue being turned over to Taylor to decide.
Heidi Toth can be reached at 344-2543 or htoth@heraldextra.com. The original story is at http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/175291/4/
April 15th, 2006
Our expedition to cross the Juneau Icefield began after 4 days of intensive training and preparation in Juneau, Alaska. From Juneau we spent an entire day making our way through temperate rainforest, alpine and subalpine vegitation, though the tree line, tundra, and finally onto the icefield (a large interconnected series of glaciers). The trail rugged and beautiful, the cool mist from the sea passed through the dense and dark green pine forest. Ferns covered the ground and signs of animal life were everywhere. There were bald eagles, bear, and we even saw a wolverine. Once we climbed above the tree line and onto the snowfields and ice we stapped on our crampons and placed our iceaxes firm in hands, carfully manuvering around the crevasses. We arrived at our first camp the evening of the day after having crossed the first glacier. Our first camp (and subsequent six camps) were located on a rocky ridge between glaciers called a nunatak an island in the sea of ice. We spent the next six weeks traversing the Juneau Icefield, tavelling from camp to camp. In all, we travelled by foot and ski over 175 miles, ending up in Canada! We crossed several glaciers, climbed over ridges and skiied snow covered slopes. We even rappelled into crevasses and camped atop icy peaks. Overall, it was an incredible experience, and by far “My Favorite Trip Ever.”
Click here for more awesome Photos For the Juneau Ice Field Story.
March 1st, 2006
Well, the blog is up. It’s now time to get some sweet content on this thing
January 2nd, 2006
At the bottom of this posting are some pictures from a little adventure that Steve Dave and I had on the BYU OAC trip to Moab this weekend. Morning Glory Arch is about two miles up Negro Bill Canyon which is just outside of Moab. Negro Bill Canyon can be found by following Main St. west out of Moab and then turning right just before the Colorado River onto St. Rd. 128. Follow the road for about two miles until you reach the parking for Negro Bill Canyon. The hike isn’t strenuous and I was surprised at the amount of foliage in the Canyon. The arch is big, probably about 200 feet wide, and tucked back into a large alcove. My two friends and I then went around the left side to get to the top of the rim. We tried one approach that looked like an easy scramble but ended in a wall that we couldn’t climb. After that didn’t work I tried another way up that was a little bit more to the left. It was a really easy climb up some rounded sandstone slopes. The sandstone wasn’t steep but was very exposed. It made me pretty nervous since I had no protection and I could have fallen a long way. I definitely wouldn’t recommend doing it. Once to the top I set a nut with a long piece of webbing (50 ft.) to help Steve and Dave past the sketchy part.
After this obstacle, we eventually scrambled up to the rim. There are huge fields of cryptobiotic soil crust. It is a very delicate soil formation that takes a long time to develop. To avoid disturbing the soil, be sure to walk on bare rock or river beds. It is very fragile.
Once to the top we made our way southwest to the canyon that houses the arch. The arch its self is not at the same level as the rim but halfway between the rim and the canyon floor. We reached the arch by rappelling down an alley that was southeast of the arch. We rappelled off of a tree and the alley ran out to the arch. Once on the arch, Steve got on one side and I on the other and we rappelled down simultaneously. My heart started racing when my weight settled in the harness and the rope started to shift quite a bit. It turns out that one side of the arch rounds of quicker than the other. My side was the steep side so I was weighting the rope sooner then Steve–hence the shifting in the rope. Pretty scary since I constantly had the thought in my head that I could possibly pull him over but what a rush! Once we rappelled down I stayed clipped in and then Dave rappelled down Steve’s rope.
Here are some pictures of Morning Glory Arch. Great rappel. Click on the thumbnails to get a closer look.
Morning Glory Arch:
September 26th, 2005
My name is ”Summit” (It’s a superhero thing) and I love the outdoors. I have been to many cool places. Most of these places have been around Utah, where I live. Next Saturday I will go rock climbing with a group of friends in Maple canyon. If you don’t know where it is try this link for a map to Maple Canyon. Actually, the map only shows you how to get to Wales, UT, but from there I think there are signs that lead you to the canyon. Email me if you want to come: summitATlivetheoutdoorsDOTcom
Now that I have started this blog I would like many to participate. If you have some additional comments or corrections, please make them. If you have something that you want me to blog about then let me know. Thanks.
September 10th, 2005
