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Environmental board directs compliance letter and potential ordinance enforcement for Saddle Club Road encampment
Summary
Environmental staff reported tents and a large accumulation of trash along Saddle Club Road that could create flooding and health risks; the board directed staff to send a compliance letter with a deadline and authorized pursuing an ordinance-violation suit in superior court if the property is not remedied.
Environmental management staff reported a property along County Road 140 North (locally called Saddle Club Road) where people are living in tents and campers and have accumulated a large pile of trash along a ditch. The officer said attempts to reach the property owner by mail returned and that sheriff’s deputies made nonconfrontational contact but observed no cleanup.
Board members discussed the site as a potential public-nuisance and environmental hazard, noting seasonal flooding risk. Environmental staff reviewed the county’s 2009 environmental ordinance language that lists accumulations of debris and unsanitary conditions as violations and said legal remedies include notice followed by an ordinance-violation suit in superior court or county cleanup and lien on taxes.
The board directed staff to prepare a compliance letter that sets a deadline for cleanup (to follow the ordinance’s prescribed timeframe), to route the letter through county counsel for review, and to pursue formal enforcement—including filing an ordinance-violation suit—if the property is not brought into compliance by the deadline. The motion to proceed with the compliance letter and potential enforcement passed 3-0.
Environmental staff will return to the board with the specific deadline and documented notices for any further action.
