In August 2010, Adroit, LCC, a company owned by Brent Bowden, was granted a Use Permit for a Recreational Vehicle Park (RV Park) on Route 82 in Patagonia. There were several conditions attached to the permit, including a stipulation that the site’s primary access be from State Highway 82 and that no work was to be done until all permits were obtained. The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is the state agency that issues access permits for state highways.
On April 24, 2012, Adroit applied for a building permit for construction of this project. On May 2, 2012, Victor Fontes, Adroit’s Engineer, received a letter from the chairwoman of ADOT which stated in part “…the Department has thoroughly reviewed this issue and proposes to issue a joint -use permit…..”. Mr. Fontes emailed this letter to the Patagonia Town Manager, David Teel. Based on this letter, the town manager approved Adroit’s two building permits. Both permits were subject to Section 7-1-5 of the Town Code which states that building permits expire if not commenced within 180 days. Both the permits appear to have expired.
In September, 2013, when the Patagonia Regional Times contacted ADOT to obtain a copy of the Adroit access permit, ADOT responded that “…a permit was filed on October 4, 2011, but was never finalized and no permit was issued by ADOT.” ADOT did not explain why the permit had not been issued. As a result, the town erroneously issued the building permits for the project which required an underlying ADOT permit before their issuance. The town manager agrees that this is the case. Presently, all the building permits issued have expired and no new ones will be issued until the ADOT access permit has been issued.
Although the Use Permit issued to Adroit does not stipulate a time limit in which the project must be completed, Section 14-2A of the Town Code has the following provision:
Development and Time Limits: Following the issuance of a Use Permit, the town manager and/or building official shall ensure that if the development/use is undertaken, it is commenced in compliance with said permit within one (1) year. If said development is not commenced within one year of issuance of the Use Permit, said Use Permit shall expire without notice, provided that a one-time one-year extension of the use permit shall be granted by the town manager if applicant requests such an extension prior to the permit’s expiration and demonstrates good cause.
It has been more than three years since the original Use Permit was issued which, under Section 14-2A makes it appear that the original Use Permit has expired. The Town Manager’s position is that Adroit should not be held hostage if ADOT makes the process of getting an access permit extremely lengthy. This may be a reasonable view, provided Adroit has made an effort to expeditiously obtain the ADOT permit. However, according to ADOT, Adroit’s application was made on October 4, 2011, approximately one year after the Use Permit was issued.