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After 34 years of holding a community steak bake, the Bucks Cove Rod and Gun Club say their tradition may have to come to a close. The permit cost for holding it is just too great.
Though never charged in past, the club was hit with a $2,788.60 permit fee from Texas Township, to hold the event September 20, 2009.
Zoning Enforcement Officer Lee Krause said the zoning permit was required based on the change of use. “It is a rural- zoned area as a hunting club and is being used commercially to make money during this event. So everything that is being used: the deck, the BBQ area, the clubhouse, the pavilion, the trap range, the parking area, all that is changing its use. It’s no longer a rural hunting club land, is now a for-profit event,” Krause said.
Saying the fee was unreasonable for a one-day event, the hunting club appealed the cost before the Texas Township Zoning Hearing Board, Tuesday. Three people testified on behalf of the hunting club, among them, Board of Director Bob Romich. Romich said the event only earns $3,000 to $4,000, sometimes less. Jerry Korb, hunting club board member, said monies raised go towards improvements around the property, for “land and wildlife management.”
Representing the hunting club, Attorney Hugh Rechner asked Krause if he felt the permit fee was reasonable. Krause replied, “I think, personally, that it is somewhat excessive. But is it reasonable? I believe that it’s reasonable. We put in a sliding scale for zoning permits. Last year, this would have been 12 cents a square foot. So is it reasonable compared to previous years? Absolutely.”
Krause later said, “This is not the first or the only entity that gets charged zoning permits. Just off the top of my head: the flower tent, the fireworks tent, Baer’s, Alpine, all of these for-profit things—the guy that sells furniture at the side of the road—all these people receive permits at the same exact cost.”
The zoning permit fee was based on the township’s ordinance, four cents per square foot of property utilized when holding the event. Prior to the fee schedule change that took effect July 6, 2009, the permit fee was 12 cents per square foot.
When Rechner asked if the township provides any services for the permit fee, such as ambulance, constable, traffic control, or someone to monitor the event, Krause said they do not.
“There’s a lot of case law interpreting what the standard of reasonableness is for fees that are charged for permits ...It’s my belief, based on the law ...that this fee is unreasonable, because it’s not in keeping with the services provided for the fee assessed,” Rechner said. “The cases that interpret that section of the municipalities planning code goes to the heart of saying: if you provide a fee, it can only be essentially a reimbursement for the cost of the township for that fee ...If you charge a fee that is outside of what the cost to the township is, then it becomes onerous... and a revenue raising activity, which the township can’t do for permits.”
After 34 years of holding a community steak bake, the Bucks Cove Rod and Gun Club say their tradition may have to come to a close. The permit cost for holding it is just too great.
Though never charged in past, the club was hit with a $2,788.60 permit fee from Texas Township, to hold the event September 20, 2009.
Zoning Enforcement Officer Lee Krause said the zoning permit was required based on the change of use. “It is a rural- zoned area as a hunting club and is being used commercially to make money during this event. So everything that is being used: the deck, the BBQ area, the clubhouse, the pavilion, the trap range, the parking area, all that is changing its use. It’s no longer a rural hunting club land, is now a for-profit event,” Krause said.
Saying the fee was unreasonable for a one-day event, the hunting club appealed the cost before the Texas Township Zoning Hearing Board, Tuesday. Three people testified on behalf of the hunting club, among them, Board of Director Bob Romich. Romich said the event only earns $3,000 to $4,000, sometimes less. Jerry Korb, hunting club board member, said monies raised go towards improvements around the property, for “land and wildlife management.”
Representing the hunting club, Attorney Hugh Rechner asked Krause if he felt the permit fee was reasonable. Krause replied, “I think, personally, that it is somewhat excessive. But is it reasonable? I believe that it’s reasonable. We put in a sliding scale for zoning permits. Last year, this would have been 12 cents a square foot. So is it reasonable compared to previous years? Absolutely.”
Krause later said, “This is not the first or the only entity that gets charged zoning permits. Just off the top of my head: the flower tent, the fireworks tent, Baer’s, Alpine, all of these for-profit things—the guy that sells furniture at the side of the road—all these people receive permits at the same exact cost.”
The zoning permit fee was based on the township’s ordinance, four cents per square foot of property utilized when holding the event. Prior to the fee schedule change that took effect July 6, 2009, the permit fee was 12 cents per square foot.
When Rechner asked if the township provides any services for the permit fee, such as ambulance, constable, traffic control, or someone to monitor the event, Krause said they do not.
“There’s a lot of case law interpreting what the standard of reasonableness is for fees that are charged for permits ...It’s my belief, based on the law ...that this fee is unreasonable, because it’s not in keeping with the services provided for the fee assessed,” Rechner said. “The cases that interpret that section of the municipalities planning code goes to the heart of saying: if you provide a fee, it can only be essentially a reimbursement for the cost of the township for that fee ...If you charge a fee that is outside of what the cost to the township is, then it becomes onerous... and a revenue raising activity, which the township can’t do for permits.”
Krause said he doesn’t set the fees, they’re determined by the Texas Township Supervisors. “I don’t have any control over the fee schedule,” he said.
The club went on as planned with the steak bake despite the fee beacuse it was too late to cancel.
Asked by The Wayne Independent why the hunting club required a permit now and not before, Krause said, “I am even a member of Bucks Cove (since 1995 or ‘96) and before we got a gas lease last year, I never knew we were a for-profit agency. And being a non-profit agency, they would be exempt from getting a permit. So, I am only aware of this last year. And it was brought to my attention that somebody was asking and saying, ‘Why do these people get permits, and your hunting club doesn’t?’ Implying that I was looking the other way or favoritism. So, somewhere down the line, it got back to the club and the club contacted me. And I said, ‘Well, I always thought we were non-profit. And I found out we’re not and we’re going to have to get a permit.’”
Krause said he did not charge his inspection and administrative fees, totaling $135.
When asked how he gets paid, Krause said he receives a certain percentage of every permit that he writes, up to a varying cap, depending on the size of an event. Krause said he received 50 percent of this specific permit fee or $1,394.30. The remaining 50 percent went to Texas Township.
The zoning fee was reduced by $594 following the appeal, since only a portion of Bucks Cove’s parking lot was used during the event.
