An asphalt batch plant that gets a lot of attention is in the clear.

A group of Rathdrum residents has dropped its appeal of the permit allowing Coeur d'Alene Paving to run a batch plant off Highway 53.

This follows the state Supreme Court's recent ruling against another suit filed by the same group, challenging a rezone the paving company had obtained near the plant.

"It's good to finally be done with it," said Todd Kaufman, co-owner of Coeur d'Alene Paving. "We knew we were right the whole time, which is why we had to fight it."

Several Rathdrum residents had appealed the permit that the Kootenai County commissioners awarded last year, allowing Coeur d'Alene Paving to operate the plant at its current location permanently.

The group chose to drop the appeal, Kaufman said, when his company agreed to waive more than $4,000 in attorneys fees awarded by 1st District Judge John Mitchell.

The fees were charged because of the group's failure to follow the correct legal process in serving certain documents.

The resolution of these lawsuits, which kept Coeur d'Alene Paving wrapped up in litigation for three years, finally allows the business to purchase the 30 acres where the plant is operated, Kaufman said, as well as an adjacent 20 acres.

"No bank would want to be involved with property with pending litigation," he explained.

The business has previously leased the Rathdrum land from Beacon West, LLC.

There are definitely plans for the acreage, Kaufman added.

The company will continue shallow mining on the land, he said, and likely develop it afterward.

"When you mine down flat with highway level, you still have a useable piece of land," he said. "We'll keep it as something that could be used for future commercial (use)."

The company is still pursuing a zone change on 116 acres by the state line, he added, to possibly relocate the batch plant there.

But prepping that new property would be expensive, Kaufman acknowledged.

If the company could obtain permission to work occasional night jobs at its current location, he said, a move wouldn't be necessary.

The business is still keeping its options open, though.

"We're putting our time into the state line property," Kaufman said.

Dana Wetzel, the Rathdrum group's legal representative, declined to comment.

The asphalt batch plant has been legally operating at the Rathdrum site since May, 2009.

Its location has been protested by hundreds of neighboring residents, who complained about pollution, noise and impacts to property values.

When the commissioners approved the permit last year, they still directed the company to search for a better location.

"Time will tell," Kaufman said of the plant's final home. "You've got to have options."