When Spencer and Cindy Fry started a business on their property in mid-2019, they had no idea they needed a review and permission from the Park County government.

“We were uneducated on special use permits,” Spencer Fry explained to county commissioners last month.

The Park County Planning and Zoning Office assessed a $100 “investigation fee” after staffers learned Fry Gravel & Excavation was operating without the required permit. However, county commissioners refunded the fee last month, noting that the Frys — who worked to get into compliance after learning of the permitting problem — had effectively turned themselves in.

The planning office was unaware of the operation until being contacted by Spencer Fry in early 2020; Fry had reached out to ask what permits he’d need if he added some shipping containers for a storage container site. Only following those discussions did county staffers realize Fry Gravel & Excavation was already operating from the U.S. Highway 14-A property.

The county issued an informal notice of violation in April and the Frys worked to get in-line with the regulations. That included seeking a special use permit for their business, which county commissioners approved at a Jan. 19 meeting.

Planning staff assessed the $100 fee since the Frys’ “land development activity” took place before they secured a permit. Planning staffer Kim Dillivan explained, “we ask people to pay that [fee] when we discover someone who’s not compliant.” However, Commissioner Lloyd Thiel and other commissioners didn’t think it was necessary.

Cindy Fry said the couple didn’t know about the requirement and quipped that, rather than being discovered by staff, “we incriminated ourselves.”

“We came in asking questions, and that’s when we learned we were out of compliance,” she explained.

Thiel suggested it was logical for the Frys to assume they were good to start up their business, noting the property previously housed Hawley’s Plumbing & Heating for decades — long before the county had zoning regulations.

“If I bought Dick Jones Trucking,” Thiel said, hypothetically, “I would assume I could have a business there.”

Commissioners unanimously voted to refund the $100 to the Frys, to appreciation from the couple.

However, Park County Planning Director Joy Hill, who had not attended the Jan. 19 hearing, told commissioners on Tuesday that she disagreed with their decision. Hill said the office put in a “lot of work” on the matter and she asked that commissioners call her if they have a concern in the future.

“That investigative fee should have stood,” she said. Hill said the planning office typically assessed the fee about a half-dozen times a year.

“There’s tons of these [violations] out there that we just don’t have time to go after,” she added.

In the case of Fry Gravel & Excavation, “I think there were just issues on both sides,” Hill told commissioners.

The Frys’ 3.33-acre parcel of land, located about 1 mile east of Ralston, hosts both the couple’s home and business. One building houses an office and storage space while another serves as a mechanic shop, with skid steers, mini-excavators, road graders, rollers and semi-trucks all staged on the property.

In an email to the county engineer last year, Hill described Fry Gravel & Excavation as a residential business.

“Gravel storage/sales will not [be] permitted as part of this use,” Hill wrote, adding, “We’d like to ensure that the impacts stay within those bounds and do not lean this more towards commercial use.”

The driveway is being moved about 330 feet to the west, to move the business’ traffic further from Road 13.

Operating hours will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., but very few customers visit the property, according to planning documents. Fry Gravel & Excavation generally works where it’s needed — on roads, subdivisions, driveways, ponds, commercial and residential foundations and other projects around the area.

With the number of people moving into the area recently, Spencer Fry said business has been brisk.

“We’ve been swamped,” he said in an interview.

In addition to the Frys, planning documents say the business has four other employees: three full-time and one part-time.