Subdivision hearings put on hold

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.