Daniel Banyai, the owner of Slate Ridge in West Pawlet, is appealing an environmental court ruling that requires him to cease all military-style training activities and tear down unpermitted structures on his property.
Cindy Hill, an attorney based in Middlebury, will represent Banyai, according to a docketing statement.
Thomas Durkin, a superior court judge in the environmental division, issued a 22-page decision in March, ruling that Banyai must pay $46,603 to the town government and close Slate Ridge, a firearms training center in West Pawlet. Banyai does not have the permits required to operate the center, according to the decision.
Durkin’s decision included the history of the case, which had been pending since September 2019. Activities at the training center, including threatening behavior from Banyai, have caused neighbors and area residents to fear for their safety.
Hill plans to question whether the court “exceeded its authority and abused its discretion” in several instances, including its finding that “landowner’s activities on his property required change-of-use or other municipal permitting or approval,” according to the court filings, which were submitted last month and obtained by VTDigger on Tuesday.
In her filing, Hill also wrote that she plans to question whether Banyai’s “state and federal constitutional property rights were violated by the environmental court’s erroneous determination” that permitting was required before Banyai could use his land for “uses that are as-of-right” where the property is located.
She asked that the full five-member Vermont Supreme Court review the case, rather than a three-justice panel. Cases heard by a full court can take several months to process.
Hill did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Her website states that she represents municipalities, nonprofit organizations, businesses and artists, and she focuses on state and federal litigation before the Environmental and Public Service boards.
“We also provide representation in criminal defense and matters where Vermonters’ rights are at stake,” it reads.
The town’s docketing statement, filed in response to Hill’s, argues that the issues Hill referred to “may not be raised for the first time on appeal.”
Merrill Bent, attorney for the Pawlet town government, also wrote that the case should not be heard by the full Supreme Court because it “does not involve establishment of new law/application of law to novel facts; does not involve a legal issue of public interest; does not call for criticism of existing law; and does not resolve a conflict between panels.”
Hill will soon need to file a brief that gives more detail about her argument, and Bent will have 21 days to respond. Then, Hill will have two more weeks to file a reply before the case is placed on a calendar, usually within 60 days of the final filing. The amount of time it takes for the court to reach a decision depends on whether the case is heard by a three-judge panel or the full court.
Meanwhile, in April, Bent filed a motion for contempt, alleging that Banyai violated the March order to shut down when he held a “Second Amendment picnic,” where dozens of people were present and firearms shooting took place. There, Banyai also said he did not plan to follow the court’s orders, according to The Associated Press.
In an email Tuesday, Bent said a court decision on the motion for contempt will be delayed until after the appeal is resolved. She also said Banyai is still prohibited from operating training at Slate Ridge because of the March order — contradicting a recent tweet from Slate Ridge that says, “Great news. No contempt of court. Classes Back On. Sign up today.”
Banyai has also indicated in other tweets that activities prohibited in the judge’s ruling are taking place. “The range is alive !!!!!” one reads.
“The judge deferred ruling on the motion for contempt, so relief on that will have to wait until the appeal is resolved,” Bent said. “However, if Mr. Banyai persists, we will ask the court to revisit it, as I do think the court can enforce its own orders while an appeal is pending.”
Separately, Banyai also appealed a stalking order filed against him by Mandy Hulett, whose property abuts his land, after he repeatedly posted about her and her family on his social media pages. Rutland Superior Court Judge Helen Toor ruled in January that “any reasonable person would interpret the overall message as threatening to cause physical harm to Hulett and her family.”
Posts on Slate Ridge’s Facebook page, which no longer exists, had asked followers to find a car identical to one driven by Hulett’s daughters to use during a vehicle assault class. A separate post read, “We must eradicate these people,” then listed Hulett’s home address.
Banyai argued in hearings that he did not control Slate Ridge’s Facebook page, but Toor did not find that assertion credible.
A brief filed on Banyai’s behalf by Rutland-based attorney Steven Howard argues that the court “erroneously found that the defendant posted the alleged threats without any supporting evidence beyond the belief that the defendant was ‘Slate Ridge.’”
The brief also argues against the judge’s conclusion that the postings were threatening, citing an “utter lack of evidence or that the postings themselves were threatening in nature.”
A response brief filed by Hulett’s attorney underlined the threatening nature of the posts and said the lower court’s decision should stand.
