Thrusday, January 14, 1999
Boone commissioner wants to settle Genesis suit
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BURLINGTON — The honeymoon period is over.
After less than a month as a Boone County Fiscal Court member, Commissioner Robert Hay has upset the one-for-all, all-for-one spirit of the all-new, all-Republican board.
Answers in Genesis, a controversial, anti-evolution group that wants to build a new headquarters and crea tionist museum in western Boone County, has caused the crack in the new relationship.
On Wednesday, Mr. Hay publicly criticized Boone County planning commissioners and previous fiscal court members for rejecting a zone change request that AIG needed to begin the $5 million to $8 million construction project.
Mr. Hay also said the county should settle a lawsuit that AIG filed in November because of the rezoning denial. Settling the case would cost the county less money, Mr. Hay said.
The public criticism upset Boone County Judge-executive Gary Moore, who said Mr. Hay should not talk about pending litigation.
“It's inappropriate (for me) to comment” on the litigation, he said. “I add that it is also inappropriate for a commissioner to be commenting on it.”
He refused further comment. New Commissioners Rob Arnold and Cathy Hudson Flaig, County Attorney Larry J. Crigler and planning officials also refused comment.
AIG teaches a biblical theo ry of creation, rather than evolution, and believes dinosaurs and humans once roamed the Earth at the same time.
In November, the Florence-based ministry filed a lawsuit in Boone Circuit Court against Boone County Fiscal Court members and planning commissioners because its rezoning request had been rejected.
The lawsuit contended that the county's comprehensive plan, which guides land use decisions, is so “unconstitutionally vague” that county officials can manipulate its contents and use them to either approve or reject AIG's project.
Mr. Hay acknowledged a friendship with several AIG members. But he said that his public support and urgings to settle the case are all a matter of fairness.
He added that AIG worked closely with planning staffers and adhered to all their requirements — which means there should've been no reason for planning commissioners and fiscal court members to reject the rezoning request.
“It's a fairness issue,” Mr. Hay said. AIG “really went above and beyond the call of duty to meet every request. It's a paradox to me, why (AIG) has encountered this much resistance.”
AIG attorney Timothy B. Theissen was pleased with the support and said he'd be interested in negotiating a settlement.
“I give him credit for being concerned,” he said. “The county ... needs to take a close look at a very bad zoning decision.”
The 47 acres are south of Interstate 275 and east of Deck Lane.
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