Dr. Susan Raymond is getting her day in court after an almost five-year battle with neighbors, Edwin and Eileen Hostetler who built an industrial chicken farm next door to her home in Hotchkiss, CO. Jury selection begins today, May 16, 2017, in district court in Delta after losing a change of venue request earlier this year. The suit is a personal one for the long-time rancher/farmer and veterinarian and asserts “that substantial pollution has come from the operation of Defendants’ confined chicken facility and caused her harm.”
Actually, this will be Raymond’s third “day in court” in connection with this chicken farm case, first in Delta district court where she won a complaint against the county only to have it overturned in state court a year later — all at a cost of more than $300,000 to county tax payers.
County Commissioners have defended their decision to allow the operation, despite both the Area Planning Committee and the Planning Commission recommendations to deny the application, believing the county specific development processes failed to address critical issues such as health impacts and use compatibility with the surrounding area.
Background stories:
Plaintiff in Chicken Farm Trespass Suit Asks for Change of Venue for Jury Trial
Court reverses bans on 2 farms
Argument in chicken farm fight an old one, opponents contend
Guv backs Hotchkiss chicken farms
Appeals court: 15,000 chickens must fly coop
Delta County chicken farm opponents fuming over apparent cozy relationship