Animal rescuer gets reprieve from fines
| Tuesday, Jan 05 2010 05:40 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Jan 05 2010 05:41 PM
Kern County supervisors delayed hefty fines against animal rescuer Kimi Peck Tuesday, hoping she'll apply for a permit that would allow her to comply with county land use laws.
"I'm never paying a cent," she swore after the meeting. "I'm never going to apply for a conditional use permit."
Supervisors were asked by Engineering and Survey Services Director Chuck Lackey to find that by keeping 100 to 170 dogs on a property on Bear Valley Road near Tehachapi, Peck is violating county land use laws.
"The housing of the animals has become the primary use of the property," Lackey said.
To maintain an animal shelter on the property, Lackey said, Peck has to have a conditional use permit. But she has refused repeatedly to apply for one, he said.
Supervisors agreed Tuesday Peck is violating land use laws and leveled a $5,000 fine and a $500-a-day penalty on her; they levied a similar penalty against Susan Marlowe, the owner of the property.
Marlowe said she has declared bankruptcy and the home on Bear Valley Road has been sold at auction. Both Marlowe and Peck said Marlowe is trying to evict Peck.
Peck said that makes it pointless for her to apply for a conditional use permit.
So on the advice of a county attorney, Supervisor Don Maben delayed the imposition of the fines and penalties on Peck and Marlowe for a little more than a month.
If Peck applies for and completes the process needed to obtain the permit, Lackey said, the supervisors could waive the fines and penalties.
Maben said the delay also gives the county a chance to see if ownership of the property is resolved.
But he blamed the problem on Peck.
"We wouldn't be here today if you had listened to staff and applied for a conditional use permit," Maben told Peck. "You picked a good location to move your dogs to."
Peck railed against the supervisors, accusing them of selling their vote to Marlowe's vengeful ex-husband and calling them corrupt and "unbelievably cruel."
"Stop this witch hunt. Don't make me sue you. Stop these fines now," Peck said. "Just try and fine me. Try."
Peck faced the same land use conflict at her previous home on Water Canyon Road south of Tehachapi.
Supervisors ruled earlier this year her dogs made her operation on Water Canyon an animal shelter, triggering a violation of land use law.
They fined her $5,000 and Peck moved to the Bear Valley Road property.
But Lackey said Peck's operation is no more legal on Bear Valley Road than it was on Water Canyon Road.
The county brought its first action against Peck, Lackey said, because "It appeared that Ms. Peck was ignoring our requirements to comply. She moved to another piece of property and we started all over again."
Supporter Janet Wingfield accused county animal control officers and Maben of being out to get Peck.
"There is a conspiracy against Ms. Peck," Wingfield said. "I think she has been chased down like a rabid dog."
Interim Resource Management Agency Director Ted James said Peck's problem is a simple land use one that she can address by applying for a permit to continue doing what she is doing.
"She acknowledged that she needed to get a conditional use permit," James said. "There is no witch hunt."
