Fort Discovery Inc. is seeking a “writ of mandamus” from Jefferson County Superior Court to urge the head of the Department of Community Development to accept a permit application.

The permit application is to build a foundation for a classroom building at the Tarboo Lake property of Fort Discovery owner Joe D’Amico, where he hopes to start a new recreational shooting facility called Cedar Hills Recreational Facility. 

According to a press release issued Oct. 17 by Fort Discovery Director of Communications Patrick Sullivan, two Fort Discovery employees tried to submit the foundation permit application to the DCD but were told to wait five days before submitting the application until officials could consult with Chief Civil Deputy Philip Hunsucker, who was on vacation and out of the country until Oct. 22. 

The building Fort Discovery is seeking the permit for is a wooden classroom building that was moved from Fort Discovery’s original location at Discovery Bay to the Tarboo Lake area Oct. 10, where it is now sitting on blocks. According to D’Amico, the building is not watertight, and the foundation is necessary to prevent any damage that might occur to the building from exposure to the weather.

The foundation permit application is the second permit application Fort Discovery has tried to submit to the DCD this month for the Tarboo Lake property. The first was a shoreline permit application, which was accepted by the DCD on Oct. 3 and is currently “pending.” 

The first permit application raised concern among the Board of County Commissioners after the Tarboo Ridge Coalition brought up worries the permit application disregarded the county’s current moratorium on development of new and existing commercial shooting facilities. 

“The issue is whether accepting the application was prohibited by the moratorium ordinance,” said county administrator Philip Morley. “We haven’t made a determination on that. So they (DCD) asked for five days so that we could make a determination.” 

D’Amico stated in the press release he believes “political pressure” from the Board of County Commissioners led the DCD director to ask Fort Discovery to wait five days before submitting its foundation permit application, even though, according to D’Amico, “it goes against the county’s own ordinance.”

The ordinance D’Amico referenced is Jefferson County Code 18.40.110(5), which states: “When the project permit application is determined to be complete, the (DCD director) shall accept it and note the date of acceptance in the project file.”

According to attorney Greg Overstreet, who represents Fort Discovery, the application had been determined complete by DCD. 

However, according to Morley, “no competeness determination has been found.”  

Overstreet said in an email that “Several DCD staff members told our employees” the application was complete. 

“This is an open-and-shut case: The county must accept this application for processing. They have no choice,” Overstreet said. 

The press release issued by Fort Discovery stated the lawsuit was not about money, and only carried a maximum penalty of $250 in attorney’s fees. It also noted while the lawsuit must technically be filed against the county official responsible for accepting the permit, in this case, DCD director Patty Charnas, as the defendant, the lawsuit does not seek damages from Charnas. 

According to Morley, the county will evaluate the legal action brought against DCD in the upcoming days. 

“We have received the legal paperwork that Fort Discovery and Mr. D’Amico have submitted,” Morley said. “We’re evaluating it, and we stand by our actions to date.”