Supervisors rezone rural Mingo residence to agricultural after weeks of tense debate

Joseph Paul’s request to rezone his property from rural residential to agricultural was accepted by the Jasper County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, despite the prolonged opposition from his neighbor Larry Ladd.

Even though the rezoning was a success, Paul will no longer be able to keep more than two large animals on his rural Mingo property.

Paul owns two horses, a hog and about a dozen cattle. With the hog on its way to be processed, only the horses will be allowed to stay on the property, which is equipped with fencing to corral the livestock. But the cows will have to be contained in a rented pasture where they usually stayed most of the year.

Structures that had been on the property before the Pauls bought it will not have to be demolished, either. Ladd complained about the location of his neighbor’s machinery, a collection of hay bales on the fence line and the livestock producing excessive, unmitigated waste, which Paul repeatedly denied.

Ladd’s home is located about 300 feet southeast of Paul’s driveway.

After identifying himself as a member of the zoning commission when the request was first brought before supervisors, Ladd argued Paul’s property is a nuisance and had been in violation of county ordinances since 2016. Both Paul and his wife Ami admitted they had been in violation but were unaware of the ordinance.

Once they had been notified, the Pauls contacted the county to find a solution.

From the Pauls point of view, they had grown up in the country and thought their rural Mingo home — also considered a “large lot” but county community development staff, which does provide some exceptions — was acceptable for a small, hobby farming operation. Plus, their other neighbors had no objections.

Only Ladd and his wife Shirley Hanson, whose father once owned Paul property, took issue with their hobby farming and their animals. Newton News also reported Ladd’s repeated confrontations with Paul, which were recorded on police logs. The two had been quarreling since Paul moved in.

Between property line disputes and arguments over barking dogs — where Paul alleged in police reports that Ladd threatened to harm the dogs if they did not stop —the two clearly do not get along. Paul told Newton News he understands Ladd has a responsibility to uphold county ordinances, but it feels like revenge.

“He’s definitely using his position and influence — if you want to call it that — for his own purposes, rather than for the good of the community and the county,” Paul said. “I think that’s pretty obvious to me and everybody else.”

Ladd even hired an attorney, James Nervig, to provide the county with a legal opinion that rezoning the property was illegal. If supervisors approved the request, Nervig said it would be considered illegal spot zoning, but neglected to point out that adjacent parcels were zoned agricultural.

Only Paul and his neighbors to the north were zoned rural residential. Ladd was not zoned residential either. During the last public hearing, supervisors asked Ladd if his property was zoned residential. At first, he said yes. When he was asked again, he said no. Ladd’s home is zoned ag dwelling/agricultural.

After three public hearings, the dispute was not settled. Jasper County Supervisor Doug Cupples initially proposed a compromise: both parties agree to allow Paul a conditional use permit for an allotted time, and the property will remain rural residential. Paul and Ladd were to develop their own terms.

However, Cupples said it was clear a compromise could not be met, so a conditional use permit was tossed aside.

“I looked at the (conditional use permit). I read through your request. I read through his response. I listened to our county attorney. To be honest, I just told (county staff), ‘Don’t even bring one in,’” Cupples said to Ladd. “That wasn’t going to work.”

Ladd said he was fine with that because he didn’t want to split hairs.

Before supervisors voted on the action, Ladd said he had received a response from the Jasper County Attorney less than 24 hours before the board meeting took place. Ladd asked the board of supervisors if any comments he made would impact their decision. Supervisors told him they were ready to put it to a vote.

“If it is rezoned agriculture, and someday in the future the Pauls grow their herd … or they wished to sell, and a farmer who does this for a living comes along and buys the property. Is it still two (animals allowed on the property)?” Ladd asked.

Jamie Elam, community development/environmental health technician for Jasper County, said a full-time farmer would be ag exempt, but they would not be able to have an unlimited herd on the 2.7-acre property. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources — which has confinement regulations — would step in, he said.

Ladd, who continued referring to Paul’s property as a “feedlot,” said he has no problem with the two-animal limit. Hanson said she and Ladd were not able to bring up another issue to supervisors, in which they claimed Paul’s livestock is grazing on land where a septic tank is installed underground.

“They’re grazing on a septic system,” Ladd said.

Elam said, “That’s the homeowner’s responsibility.”

Discussion stopped. The Jasper County Board of Supervisors voted 2-1 to approve the rezoning request. Denny Carpenter was the lone, dissenting vote.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com