John Paul Hott is an angry man.
The Petersburg insurance agent recently had his application for rezoning denied by the Petersburg City Council. He wanted a house zoned residential reclassified so that he could operate his business from there. The council listened to neighbors opposed to the location of the business and denied the request.
Apparently the city of Petersburg acted improperly. The mayor and city council were not aware of the existence of a zoning appeals board that was created by ordinance to handle such issues. Hott blasted the city council not only for incompetence in not knowing the law, but also for not recognizing a conflict of interest. Hott maintains that the city council contains members whose interests or whose family's interests conflict with his business.
Some in Mineral County push very hard behind the scenes to incrementally move the area towards zoning. The Petersburg example shows the pitfalls of this process. A legitimate businessman's interests get caught in governmental decision making. Instead of conducting his business to the benefit of himself, his employees, and frankly the city itself, Hott is considering a lawsuit. He might sue because the city did not follow the law in rejecting his application.
It also shows the problems that might occur related to conflicts of interest. Likely the Petersburg City Council operated in good faith. However the potential for striking against a business competitor, or the competitor of a friend or a family member, or maybe someone the official just does not like, is there. Laws are enforced by human beings. Sometimes human beings act responsibly, sometimes incompetently, sometimes dishonestly. Businessmen and women ought to be relieved of having to deal with the strong hand of government as often as possible.
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