MAPLETON — A dairyman whose farm was shut down because neighbors couldn't stomach the smell will bid his cows farewell this weekend.
The Mapleton City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to reimburse Paul Opfar a little more than $202,000 for costs incurred developing the farm. The decision closed the issue and marked the end of Opfar's dream to own a dairy farm.
Opfar left the meeting sobbing.
He said he and his wife, who is eight months pregnant, have been "stressed out" ever since 19 neighbors filed a complaint with the city in August to revoke his permit to operate the dairy — just a month after it was granted. Neighbors argued the dairy farm, which was located in an agricultural zone, should not be allowed to operate so close to residential homes.
Opfar sold his cows shortly after his permit was taken away in March but had held on to them until the case with the city wrapped up. He spent a lot of time with those cows, he said, and had gotten to know their individual personalities.
"I just feel like I've been railroaded," Opfar said. "I don't want to be drug out anymore."
The settlement covers only the cost of materials Opfar used to build equipment for his 40-acre dairy farm. Labor costs, which were estimated at about $90,000, were not included as part of the settlement.
If Opfar had chosen to sue, his attorney, Steven McMurray, said he was confident it would be a strong case. Opfar followed the advice of the Mapleton city planner in starting the 80-cow venture.
A lawsuit would certainly award Opfar more money than the proposed settlement, McMurray maintained.
But money was not what Opfar was after.
"Paul did not want to end up hurting anybody else," McMurray said. "If the neighbors were unhappy, he didn't want to hurt the neighbors by operating a dairy. He wants to do the right thing and not just try to be greedy."
Mapleton City Attorney Eric Johnson agreed Opfar was generous with the city.
"Quite frankly, Mr. Opfar is not seeking all the claims he might seek in court," he said.
Keeping the case out of court was appealing to the city because court fees alone could amount to the price paid in the settlement, Johnson said. Win or lose, settling the case was a better deal, he said.
Some City Council members had some reservations about the settlement, however. They said it wasn't a long-term solution to the zoning issues raised during the case.
"All this does is bar one man from the dairy business," Councilman Mike Cobia said. "Who's to say once the dairy farm's moved out, a truckload of heifers won't be moved in the next day? The problem has not been solved."
Brady said the hullabaloo about Opfar's dairy farm was not the result of a poor zoning ordinance: It was caused by a train of bad decisions.
"Poor decisions were made early on — not by Mr. Opfar — and now the city has to pay for it," he said. "We are paying now because city employees created this problem."
Many council members, including the mayor, expressed confusion at the Board of Adjustment's decision to revoke Opfar's permit in the first place.
"If things had proceeded in the proper manner, we would not be here today," Cobia said. "Mr. Opfar's operation was legal to begin with, and it probably still is."
The mayor even joked that the city itself should appeal the decision. He said he couldn't see how a dairy farm wouldn't belong in an agricultural area.
Why didn't Opfar appeal the decision? they asked.
"I can appeal, yeah," Opfar said, knuckles white as he gripped the podium. "But if I appealed it and stayed there, I'm going to be pushing the whole way. My neighbors call me all the time and say, 'hey, your cows stink."'
For their part, Opfar's neighbors feel the money they invested hiring an attorney to get the dairy farm shut down was well spent.
"I will be elated to see those cows go," said Joyce Clifton, who lives downwind of the dairy farm. "We have just been waiting patiently for the city to settle with Paul so we could have this all over with."
Clifton, who along with her husband led the campaign to shut down the dairy farm, said the smells wafting from the milk barn made them "prisoners in their own homes."
"We had to call a few times since the board revoked his permit to register official complaints so the council would remember it was still an absolute bother and miserable," she said.
E-mail: estuart@desnews.com