Scrap Dealer Contests Mich. County Zoning Board

A West Branch, Mich., scrap metal dealer remains open - perhaps indefinitely - despite a recent decision by Ogemaw County's highest zoning authority calling for its shutdown.

Not only has Rifkin Scrap Iron & Metal refused to close its neighborhood scrap yard, but the business turned to Ogemaw Circuit Court to appeal the county Zoning Board of Appeals' June 8 ruling.

Adding to its latest action, Rifkin also sued Ogemaw County for financial loss and legal fees in the two-year-old dispute.

Last week, Ogemaw County attorneys asked for a hearing June 24 before Circuit Judge Michael Baumgartner. The proceeding may not resolve the quarrel, but it should force progress, county officials said.

"I plan to make a motion, today if possible, to strike this latest portion of (Rifkin's) complaint," attorney Darris Richards said. "It's a way to get the case before the judge and move things forward."

Rifkin attorney Craig Horn could not be reached for comment. But for the 50 or so homeowners living in a residential park next door to Rifkin, the renewed wrangling offers no respite. Neighbors' most serious complaint remains the din and vibration of Rifkin cranes moving and crushing scrap metal.

In the appeal to Circuit Court, Rifkin defends its operation by arguing that scrap processing is precisely the work Ogemaw County's Planning Commission authorized Rifkin to do when board members granted the recycler a special use permit.

Rifkin runs its scrap metals transfer station on M-76 in West Branch Township. Since getting its permit two years ago, the company has invested some $400,000 in the site, officials say.

Rifkin also argues in the complaint that the court should reverse Ogemaw's "cease and desist" order because zoning appeals board members used flawed methods to make a flawed decision at last week's special hearing.

Specifically, Rifkin alleges the zoning board used "off-the-record" planning experts whom Rifkin attorneys were unable to cross-examine.

County administrators, meanwhile, say they remain adamant about pursuing Rifkin's case until the business moves or closes its M-76 location. Ogemaw sued Rifkin in 2004 for allegedly violating its special use permit. Bay City (Michigan) Times