Twenty-five years is too much time to give someone to clean up a yard - but that's how long Fred Buhler has had and local government officials say they are tired of waiting. Buhler says he's tired of being harassed.
Buhler owns what he calls a "livelihood" in Highland - a 19-acre lot of old cars, tractors, washing machines and other salvaged items.But Utah County and Highland officials call his property a junkyard in violation of zoning and nuisance ordinances.
Buhler, however, believes the nuisance ordinance is too vague and doesn't understand why the county has singled him out. He said the officials who are trying to get him to clean up his land are guilty of violating the same ordinance.
"There is no way a person could not be guilty of that ordinance," Buhler said. "They just keep picking on a few of us."
Buhler contends the ordinance does not apply to him because his collection was there before the ordinance took effect.
Numerous attempts to resolve the issue in court have been foiled because of what Commissioner Malcolm Beck calls a failure by past commissioners to follow through on legal proceedings.
In December 1977, Buhler and the county signed an agreement that gave him 30 days to clean up his property or deed it to the county. The county maintains Buhler never met his end of the agreement, but the county never foreclosed on the property.
"In my opinion, the county in the late '70s really abandoned the issue and didn't follow through," Beck said.
Beck said he still believes the agreement is valid and the property legally belongs to the county, but the Utah County attorney's office won't back him on it.
Buhler said he met his obligation and Highland agreed at that time to annex his property, but never did. He said he has contributed to the community and believes he has a lot of support from area residents.
Beck said the county never should have allowed Highland to incorporate in 1977 without including Buhler's property within its boundaries. They annexed from section points but left out Buhler's property, which created an island, he said.
"In a lot of ways it is kind of silly to still be into this 13 years after Highland was incorporated. They should not have left out areas they did not want."
Highland officials said they want to annex Buhler's property and the surrounding property, but they won't until his ranch is cleaned and in compliance with city ordinances. Councilman Kent Day said the county should have had the issue resolved before Highland incorporated.
"It was their problem and their issue so we feel like it is their responsibility to take care of the problem," Day said.
He said Highland calls the county weekly to encourage them to make Buhler conform with the law. And Beck said the county plans to do just that.
"I'm going to follow through this time. It's a travesty and (his property) is a real health hazard."
But Buhler said he has been treated unfairly by police and local officials. He even claims that a district court judge promised to inform him of a court decision in time for him to appeal to the Utah Supreme Court, but the judge did not follow through.
"He did that on purpose so we couldn't appeal our case," Buhler said.
Beck has asked Deputy County Attorney Kent Sundberg to begin legal proceedings once again to bring Buhler into compliance with zoning and nuisance laws.
He estimates that it may cost $250,000 to clean up the property and believes that Buhler may not be cooperative in clearing his land.
It may be an uphill battle to bring Buhler in compliance with zoning ordinances, but Beck said he wants to resolve the matter as soon as possible.