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Subdivision hearings put on hold |
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December 23, 2011 |
Two public hearings originally scheduled to be
heard at the January meeting of he Boundary
County Planning and Zoning Commission have, at
the request of the applicant, been set aside
until as least March 15, 2012.
In the wake of a unanimous recommendation than
an application to develop family land along the
west side of the Kootenai River at the Copeland
Bridge, Fox Enterprises has requested the
additional time to respond to concerns that were
raised before presenting two additional
subdivision applications to create an additional
70 residential lots on the banks of the Kootenai
River.
These are the first subdivision applications
filed in Boundary County since 2005, and the
first under new county land use ordinances
allowing "clustered" development, where
residential lots are allowed below the minimum
lot size, provided sufficient acreage is set
aside from future development so that the
overall density of the zone is maintained.
During the January 19 P&Z meeting, officers will
be elected and a public hearing will be held on
a conditional use application by Tungsten
Holdings to operate a seven-acre gravel quarry
on property on Farm to Market Road about a mile
and a half south of Porthill. The original
application to establish the gravel pit was
approved by the county in 2005, but the ruling
was challenged in court by Pat and Ada Gardiner,
who contended that the operation would adversely
impact their cattle breeding operations.
Their case was upheld by the Idaho Supreme
Court, which determined that the county zoning
laws in effect at the time did not conditionally
allow gravel pits.
In September, the P&Z commission again heard
testimony on the original application thanks to
an amendment made to the 1999 Boundary County
Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance allowing
consideration of gravel pits as a conditional
use in the Agriculture/Forestry zone district,
but instead of rendering a decision, P&Z opted
to forward a recommendation to county
commissioners that the application be approved,
which would have prompted a second public
hearing before county commissioners.
Applicant Rick Dinning, president of Tungsten
Holdings, chose instead to withdraw that
application, and later made a new application
under the new county zoning and subdivision
ordinance adopted in late August, which, unlike
the previous ordinance, allows consideration of
gravel pits and mines within most county zone
districts.
Letters giving notice of public hearing will be
sent to property owners surrounding the proposed
use will be mailed next week, and information
will be posted on the county website,
www.boundarycountyid.org, in the "legal
notice" section. |
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