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Rules get in the way of a dream Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Phil Krouse and his mother, Myrtle, stand near what may be the beginning of a one-acre irrigation pond for a vineyard Krouse hopes to plant on his land off North Applegate Road. Wine-grape plan might dry up By DANI DODGE APPLEGATE - Phil Krouse has a dream: A third-generation cattle rancher, he wants to leave a profitable legacy for his children and plant wine grapes on his acreage. But the county has rules. And Krouse has run afoul of them. "He got out there and started moving around a lot of earth without clearances, permits, or even getting with FEMA," said Mike Kuntz, Jackson County's manager of code enforcement. "Frankly, in our opinion, he was way out there." Krouse, though, says the county is keeping him from moving into the future. He says the grape-growing operation he envisions will use much less water than he needs now to grow hay for his cattle. He's already invested a quarter-million dollars in Riesling grape vines that must be planted by February. And if he doesn't get to excavate his irrigation pond before then, his grape vines will die. His investment will be lost. He will be ruined. "(The county) effectively took my farm away from me," Krouse says. "I bought and paid for my citizenship in Vietnam. When I got back from there, I didn't think I'd have to fight my own government for the right to irrigate my land." Tears in his eyes, Krouse said he's taken down the American flag that used to fly over his farmhouse. "I think there's something wrong with this picture," Krouse said. Every month, Jackson County gets between 100 and 150 complaints of code violations. Sometimes, it's situations such as a homeowner taking it upon himself to replace his roof - but not realizing a permit is required for that activity. Then the county goes out and tries to educate the homeowner on which building activities needs a permit, and which ones don't. It's only when the activity is deemed "outrageous" that the code enforcement officer issues a citation, Kuntz said. And when it comes to building and moving dirt in a flood plain, like where Krouse wants to put his pond, the laws are even more stringent. Flood plain rules are regulated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, an agency charged with making sure that what one person does on his land doesn't increase flood dangers for his neighbors. When Jackson County code enforcement officer Tod Miller went out to Krouse's property on North Applegate Road last month, he had two state troopers with him because they were looking out for the interests of FEMA, Kuntz said. "And of course it doesn't hurt to have someone there with the weight of law enforcement," Kuntz said. Miller put a stop-work order on Krouse's project and handed him a citation with a $1,200 fine. Krouse said he'll go to jail before he pays the fine. Robert Kerivan, the owner of Bridgeview Winery, who is working with Krouse on the vineyard, said he's outraged by the county's action. "The state and county are trying to regulate us out of our property," Kerivan said. "In Phil's case, if and when he gets that into a vineyard his payroll will be $200,000 a year. "I can't comprehend why they do things like that when people are trying to do the right thing and build jobs." Krouse insists his plans were OK'd by Bruce Sund, a regional water master. Sund says he did tell Krouse he was within his water rights to divert his irrigation water into a pond, but he didn't even know Krouse was planning to excavate in the flood plain. "He asked me a specific water rights question, and it was OK by our department," Sund said. "Permission from one agency to do something, is not permission from all agencies. "... We don't give that type of carte blanche." Krouse complained to county commissioners. "He told me he had permission from the water master, but what I found out is there's violations involved," said Commissioner Ric Holt. "There's always two sides of every story." Krouse's side leaves him with a lot of grape root cuttings and possibly no where to plant and irrigate them. After he was cited, Krouse said he went to the county and was told he wouldn't be granted permits for his project. The code enforcement manager said Krouse may eventually get permission to do his irrigation pond and his grape plantings. But he has to apply for the proper permits first. "It's all done in the public interest," Kuntz pointed out. Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.