Board downshifts on code changes

SANDPOINT — Bonner County commissioners agreed on Thursday to slow their roll with proposed changes to the land use code.

The board voted to postpone a decision on whether to implement the changes pending a public hearing by the Bonner County Planning & Zoning Commission on Oct. 6. The board also plans to arrange a more informal public workshop prior to the hearing so people can become further acquainted with the proposed changes to the county’s subdivision ordinance.

The move veers from the county commission’s recent pattern of developing and implementing land use code changes without any review or input from P&Z.

A crowd filled the 85-seat conference room to capacity during the county commission’s public hearing on the subdivision code changes, which aims to make some minor divisions of land administrative matters that can be processed in quicker time and at lesser expense to landowners.

Planning Director Milton Ollerton cited an instance where a landowner spent upwards of $50,000 breaking a 10-acre parcel into halves due to public noticing and review costs.

“This guy’s been waiting for six months to divide his property into two pieces,” said Ollerton.

Splits resulting in four or fewer lots would be processed administratively by the Planning Department as opposed to the traditional public hearing process. Plat maps would be less detailed and would state whether or not the Panhandle Health District has approved the parcel suitable for septic infrastructure.

Under the current short plat code, landowners have to have a Panhandle Health sign-off before the property can be split. Under the proposed minor land division code, the landowner who ultimately builds on the property would be the one required to receive health district approval for a septic system.

The code change is also meant to address the issue of land divisions created via recorded deed. Ollerton said the county has processed up to 150 short plats in the last two and a half years, compared to as many as 400 lots created by recorded deed during the same time frame.

Moreover, some of the deeded splits do not conform with county codes due to access issues or zoning restrictions.

“Those are problems we’re trying to address here,” Ollerton said.

The proposed code changes drew a measure of acceptance from parts of the crowd during the three-hour hearing.

“It all sounds good to me. It’s making the process a little bit easier and I’m in favor of that,” said landowner David Marshall.

Others, such as Realtor Raphael Barta, were neutral. Barta said continued growth in Bonner County is inevitable and urged commissioners to let science and proven best management practices shape land use policy.

“North Idaho is one of the last, best unspoiled places left in the western United States. This is exactly why we who live here must come up with a strategy for how to manage this growth,” said Barta.

The majority of the testimony, however, were from either skeptics or opponents of the code revisions. They argued that the current level of regulation is not overly onerous and protects the environment and the lifeblood of Bonner County — its pristine waters.

Erin Mader of the Idaho Lakes Commission said the Pend Oreille system straddles the line of impairment for algae caused by phosphorous loading. Strict regulation of septic systems is a way of controlling phosphorus loading.

“The non-point sources of phosphorus are much harder to monitor and quantify,” said Mader.

Panhandle Health District Director Lora Whalen said she appreciated the county’s efforts to streamline the land use process, but was concerned that purchasers of small lots with sanitary restrictions in place might find themselves unable to build because the site’s septic suitability was not determined beforehand.

“If they’re not lifted when the buyer begins the home-building process, there is a possibility that we won’t be able to find a site and at that point the Panhandle Health District becomes the bad guy,” Whalen said.

The code changes effect on housing density was also debated. Commissioner Todd Sudick said the zoning ultimately determines density.

“We’re not changing density. Density is set by zoning,” Sudick said.

Landowner Ken Haag, however, demonstrated rhetorically that a large parcel could be quickly and quietly subdivided into the smallest parcels allowed in a particular zoning district.

The most consistent request from those who testified was for the county to slow the changes down.

“It is important that this process be slowed down,” said Margaret Hall, vice chair of P&Z.

Commissioners ultimately agreed, but they did not agree that the code changes would gut Bonner County’s rural ambiance simply because 80 percent of the county cannot be developed because it’s owned by the state or federal government, contains waterways or is protected by easements.

“We’ve only got 20 percent of the land that we can develop. You still will have the rural nature,” said Commissioner Glen Bailey.