Navajo County Superior Court visiting Judge Donna Grimsley heard oral arguments Nov. 30 on a motion filed by the defendants to dismiss the case of Lowry Flake vs. the Town of Snowflake and Copperstate Farms LLC. The lawsuit sought to block a large medical marijuana grow operation in the town.
It should be noted that this is referred to as Lowry, et al., residents of Snowflake, Arizona vs. the Town of Snowflake and Copperstate Farms, LLC. George Wilkerson is the only Snowflake resident still named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Originally, Lowry and Maylene Flake, Daniel Prestwich and Aaron Prestwich filed the lawsuit, but all four requested that their names be removed from it.
Neither Kory Langhofer of Statecraft Law, who represented the plaintiffs, nor Wilkerson were present. The motion was presented to Judge Grimsley by the defendants’ attorney, Timothy J. Casey of Schmitt Schneck Smyth Casey & Even, P.C.
Judge Grimsley said she would rule by minute entry.
In an order issued Dec. 7, she wrote:
“The court, having taken defendants’ motion to dismiss the amended complaint under advisement, after argument, hereby makes the following findings and rulings.
“Plaintiffs lack standing to raise the contract zoning and open meeting law claims because they have not pled or demonstrated an injury that is concrete and particularized or that effects them in an individualized way.
“Plaintiff (Wilkerson) lacks standing on the minimum distance claim because he does not live in a residentially zoned location.
“Even were plaintiff to establish standing, the court finds that each of the claims raised and the relief requested are not supported by Arizona law. Therefore, the court grants defendants’ motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure.”
On Dec. 5, former Snowflake mayor Tom Poscharsky received news from Casey that, “Upon stipulation of the parties, the court dismissed Dr. Krieger’s public records lawsuit this morning.”
These same allegations were submitted to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office by State Representative Paul Boyer of District 20, which includes Peoria, North Phoenix and much of Glendale, as requested by Dr. Kenneth Krieger, a Peoria chiropractor who surrendered his license several years ago due to disciplinary actions.
On Sunday, Sept. 18, the Attorney General’s Office posted that, “The Arizona Attorney General has found no basis for a complaint…”
The town now has one complaint awaiting resolution, and that is the open meeting law complaint filed by Boyer with a separate division of the Attorney General’s Office.
