A Cottonwood resident filed a complaint in Yavapai County Superior Court against four defendants, including the city of Cottonwood, for allegedly seeking to interfere with the lawful access to his residence.
Michael Bux, the plaintiff, also implies that the city conducted a staff-level plat approval before House Bill 2447 will take effect Thursday, Jan. 1, bypassing the Planning & Zoning Commission and City Council.
Prior to filing the complaint, Bux contacted the city’s Community Development Department and was informed in writing that no grading permits, development requests or access modification applications had been filed or approved for the easement area or any portion of the disputed land.
Bux is employed by the Mingus Union High School District and said he has “long-standing ties, residency and good-standing presence within the city of Cottonwood community.” He said his family’s connection to Cottonwood spans generations and that they maintain a “deep personal and historical understanding of Cottonwood’s development, parcel arrangements, and evolving land use patterns.”
The defendants are Clemenceau Townsite LLC, Joseph Nackard, LNN Enterprises Inc. and the city of Cottonwood.
In the filing, Bux wrote that he is the legal occupant and beneficiary of property located at 503 W. Ash Circle and was raised at 510 W. Ash Circle. He and his family have been using a well-established ingress and egress easement for both properties for over 35 years, constituting a prescriptive easement under Arizona law, he argued.
A prescriptive or implied easement occurs when a property owner has openly and continuously used another person’s property for at least 10 years. Bux has easement documents from 1975, 1977 and 1980 that confirm legal ingress and egress rights for his parcel.
On June 12, a Record of Survey was filed with the Yavapai County Recorder’s Office approving a lot line adjustment involving parcels 406-32-022U, 406-32-022G
and 406-32-022N, adjoining 503 W. Ash Circle and part of the implied easement. This was signed and approved by then Cottonwood Community Development Director Scott Ellis. No P&Z or council hearings were held. The Record of Survey was officially recorded on July 11.
Claims
▪ Clemenceau Townsite LLC, registered in Arizona, claims interest or authority over the land adjacent to or affecting the plaintiff’s legal access. Joseph Nackard is reportedly the managing member and controlling agent.
In the first amended verified complaint for the pending quiet title and declaratory relief case, Bux claims Nackard “made verbal claims to ownership, access control, and intent to alter, grade, or interfere with plaintiff’s right-of-way.” The filing stated that on July 16, Nackard approached him at his property and made statements implying that grading of the circular easement area would happen soon, despite no recorded documentation, ownership evidence or legal entitlement demonstrating any right to control, alter or interfere with the easement. No formal notice, permit or legal justification had been posted or delivered to Bux, he stated.
Two days prior, on July 14, Clemenceau Townsite LLC recorded three internal land transfers where portions of APN 406-32-022U were adjusted and split into successor parcels with lot line adjustments affecting the parcels.
Bux claims the “sequence and rapid execution of these transfers — timed just before defendant’s verbal assertions of control — raise serious concerns that the transactions were designed to reposition parcel ownership, redirect potential liability or otherwise complicate the traceability of title in anticipation of dispute.”
He said Nackard’s “behavior and the timing of his appearances reflect a pattern of calculated opportunism intended to unsettle long-established use through implied authority rather than any lawful basis.”
▪ LNN Enterprises, is named as a defendant as it is under the ownership of the Nackard family. Statutory agent Giavanna L. Nackard Bednar, shares the same business address as Clemenceau Townsite LLC and is named on the June 12 record of, indicating involvement in the lot line adjustments and property boundary realignments tied to the disputed easement, Bux argues.
▪ The Arizona Corporation Commission lists the K. Joseph Nackard Family Trust as a controlling member of LNN Enterprises Inc. with K. Joseph Nackard serving as trustee. Bux alleges unity of control and seeks a veil-piercing analysis to hold Nackard and entities jointly liable.
The city of Cottonwood is named as a defendant in its role in administrative decisions affecting the easement area and adjacent right-of-way parcels.
Relief sought
In the filing, Bux seeks a quiet title declaring his easement valid, a declaratory judgement affirming the easement rights, injunctive relief preventing grading, obstruction or assertion of control by the defendants and an order requiring the defendants and their agents to preserve all evidence.
On Aug. 20, Bux recorded a lis pendens, a public notice that the title and access rights to his property are in a lawsuit or claim.
HB 2447 Implications
House Bill 2447 requires municipal staff across Arizona to review and approve site plans, development plans, plats, lot line adjustments and land divisions without a public hearing, bypassing the review process by planning and zoning commissions and town or city council. Gov. Katie Hobbs [D] signed the bill on March 31. All site plans, plats and lot-line adjustments prior to the Jan. 1 start date require P&Z and council’s review.
In August, Cottonwood city staff briefed Cottonwood P&Z on the upcoming requirements related to these state level changes that affect the powers of the commission. The city was aware that changes to the process were forthcoming, but not yet effective.
The boundary realignments involving the parcels did not undergo a public hearing as required due to HB 2447 not yet being state law.
Bux claims that the city of Cottonwood, through its community development director, executed a staff-level approval and recording of a boundary-altering survey without a public hearing before HB 2447 was in effect and alleged this violates the public process.
The case is still pending litigation.
