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Posted by Desert Wolf on July 09, 2000 at 15:59:20: In Reply to: Wolfsong Ranch needs help! posted by WanderingBetaWolf on June 21, 2000 at 13:36:40:
Wolfsong files lawsuit questioning countys authority
BISBEE - An animal rescue facility near Dos Cabezas is asking for a court ruling on whether two county panels exceeded their authority in ordering all animals removed from the premises. Wolfsong Ranch Foundation Inc. filed a court complaint for special action Wednesday, asking Cochise County Superior Court to rule on the validity of the June 19 county Board of Supervisors decision to uphold a Planning and Zoning Commission decision to deny Wolfsong a special use permit. A special action is similar to an appeal. The Planning and Zoning decision also required that the foundation remove all animals from its property within six months of the April 12 meeting. The supervisors extended that deadline to Jan. 1, 2001. Those animals include 160 wolves and wolf-dogs, pet dogs owned by foundation members Arthur and Mary Bellis, horses and a mountain lion. The foundation is licensed to care for the mountain lion, Mary Bellis said in a recent interview. The foundation also is contending that District 3 Supervisor Les Thompson should have abstained from participating in the June 19 hearing and should not have voted because he was quoted in a newspaper article as being opposed to the facility and in favor of removing the animals. In its complaint, the foundation also contends that housing animals is a permitted use in RU-4 zoning. That zoning is rural residential with a minimum lot size of four acres.
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