PORT TOWNSEND — Embattled Security Services Northwest on Friday fired the latest in a salvo of legal challenges against Jefferson County.
The company appealed in Kitsap County Superior Court a hearing examiner’s decision that effectively shut down the 18-year-old business on Discovery Bay.
“It’s the next step,” said Security Services’ Seattle-based attorney John Devlin.
Explaining the reason for filing its Land Use Policy Act appeal in a county outside of Jefferson, Devlin said, “Judge (Craddock) Verser is an outstanding judge. It has nothing to do with him.
“It’s just something we decided would be in the best interest of our client.”
A move to a court across Hood Canal is allowed under state law, Devlin said.
Verser ruled late last year in the county’s favor, granting two injunctions against the company’s training of military and paramilitary personnel in homeland security operations that included semiautomatic gunfire and bomb explosions.
The resulting noise, which reverberated across Discovery Bay, irritated neighbors and prompted complaints to the county.
Verser’s final decision required that Security Services post $20,000 with the court until it could prove it was training a replacement company employee and not fulfilling a contract.
Appeal bashes decision
The appeal and lawsuit filed Friday against the county states that Jefferson County Hearing Examiner Irv Berteig’s Jan. 10 decision against Security Services was “clearly erroneous, arbitrary and capricious, and not supported by the record or applicable legal authorities.”
The lawsuit asks the Kitsap court to rule the decision “null and void and of no force and effect.”
Security Services’ suit also calls for a stay of enforcement of Berteig’s decision and the county’s order, and prohibit “the county from otherwise interfering with SSNW’s business activities” until legal issues are settled in court.
The company, which employs more than 100 people on and off the North Olympic Peninsula in various security guard, K-9 and security-alarm system roles, asks the Kitsap court to determine that the company’s operations on parts of the 3,700-acre Gunstone property is a legal nonconforming land use in whole or part.
The main gist of Berteig’s decision was that Security Services is not a legal nonconforming business, which would have allowed the company to continue operation.
