A judge: Natrona County cannot stop a landowner from…

CASPER — A Natrona County judge has ruled against Natrona County in its attempt to stop private landowners from blocking a road on their property, even though the county has maintained it for years.

County commissioners have filed a lawsuit over a threat to close County Road 505 to the public because people have damaged the landowner’s private property. But the road is also a vital access point for the south side of Casper Mountain and closing it would cause hardship, the county argued.

Whether the county likes it or not, does not own the road and made conflicting arguments to prevent landowners from closing it, the judge ruled Thursday in denying an injunction barring the ranch family from blocking CR 505.

The county’s injunction request was filed June 17 after a June 14 letter from Woodbury Land and Livestock LLC and Walt and Stephanie Woodbury informed the county that they would block the road on part of their property on June 20.

The Woodburys have ultimately not yet followed through on their threat to block certain parts of CR 505.

Attorneys for the Woodburys and the county argued Wednesday before Natrona County District Court Judge Joshua Eames, including over whether the family would still allow other private landowners and emergency vehicles to use the road.

Ultimately, the judge also ruled that the landowners showed they did not intend to block the road in a way that would prevent people from accessing Muddy Mountain and its camping area from the north side of Casper Mountain.

No complaints

Judge Eames emphasized in his ruling that the county never filed a complaint on this issue, only a request for a preliminary injunction. In court Wednesday, he said he had no affidavits from private property owners alleging potential injuries or other evidence showing harm.

“To date, plaintiff has not filed a complaint alleging any cause of action,” the judge wrote. “Given that Plaintiff has not, to date and more than a week after filing his Motion, filed a Complaint with any cause of action, the Court finds that Plaintiff has not properly asserted” the laws cited in the county’s petition.

The judge also ruled that the county had failed to establish the legal elements necessary for a preliminary injunction.

“Even though Plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction was properly presented…Plaintiff has failed to meet his burden of demonstrating that a preliminary injunction is necessary in the circumstances.” writes Judge Eames.

An injunction should be used in the “rarest of rare cases,” he said.

Evidence in court documents presented to the judge shows that the Woodburys and their attorney John Masterson met with county attorneys and County Commission Chairman Peter Nicolaysen on May 23, where the couple proposed placing barriers on the road and allowing emergency access.

The county did not respond to the suggestion or offer an alternative, so it wrote a letter threatening to do so.

County maintained

County officials argued that Natrona County has used and maintained the road for years and that the public uses it to access BLM lands and a campground. Additionally, County Road 505 is shown on maps and marked by county signage.

However, without proof of ownership of the road, the county cannot simply claim it because of what it has done there in the past, the judge ruled.

The county continues to search for documents proving ownership. In the meantime, the county commission recently began legal steps to make the road a county road through “prescription” or “adverse possession.”

That’s another problem the judge ran into with the injunction request: The county claims both that it owns the road and that it also intends to establish its ownership.

The Woodburys, who own three parcels of land that touch the road, proposed placing two barriers across the road and allowing the use of emergency medical services, private property owners and individuals in the event of an emergency by calling 911 dispatchers who would have the access codes to open the gates.

They claim trespassing, littering and other problems that interfere with their livestock operations and violate their private property occur because of the road.

The road is also bordered along its 13.5-mile stretch from the top of Casper Mountain to State Highway 487 by state and BLM lands.

Dale Killingbeck can be contacted at [email protected].