County Attorney's Office issues statement

On behalf of Hot Springs County and the Board of County Commissioners, the Hot Springs County Attorney’s Office would like to make the following statements:

1. The Tipi Retreat, LLC, a Wyoming Limited Liability Company, Michelle Stevens, individually, and Michael Stevens, individually, brought suit against the Hot Springs County Board of County Commissioners on or about January 19th, 2022, Docket No. 2022-03 in the District Court, 5th Judicial District.

2. The Defendant (Hot Springs County BOCC) filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgement on June 30th, 2022 and were granted a Partial Summary Judgment in the District Court, 5th Judicial District on November 8th, 2022. The Partial Summary Judgement Order made the following findings:

 A. The Hot Springs County Land Use Plan and Developmental Regulations properly establish enforceable zoning regulations with identifiable standards to control and regulate land use development, including the Plaintiff’s land uses.

 B. Hot Springs County had legally existing zoning regulations in effect when the Plaintiff’s began their development project, therefore, the County did not violate their constitutional due process rights when it denied their development permit.

3. The Plaintiff’s (The Tipi Retreat, LLC, et.al.) Complaint for Declaratory Judgement and Injunctive Relief was dismissed by the Court in November of 2022 and the Plaintiff’s Petition for Judicial Review will be addressed by separate order of the Court.

4. Because of the outstanding Order and pending litigation, Hot Springs County is not specifically commenting on the allegations being made by the Plaintiffs at this time.

5. More information on the Civil Action No. 2022-03 may be found in the Court file in the District Court, 5th Judicial District, including but not limited to the Court Order Granting Defendant’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgement dated November 8th, 2022 and the Decision Letter dated October 26th, 2022 from the Honorable Bill Simpson, District Court Judge.

Editors note: As with our letters to the editor, we welcome responses to all community chatter submissions. Responses that meet the letter to the editor/community chatter policy will be accepted.