‘How can we clarify that in two lines?’

SANDPOINT — Bonner County commissioners tabled approval of proposed changes to the county’s Comp Plan to allow staff to clarify the language.

While they said the intent of the proposed goals, objectives, and policies in the document are clear, they felt that wasn’t the case for the language.

Commission Chair Dan McDonald said he understood how difficult it is to write legal language, but he, and Commissioner Jeff Connolly, both felt the language for the goals, objectives, and policies had too many loopholes — and too many words.

“This is great but, how do we clarify that in two lines,” Connolly asked.

Commissioners said most of the confusion centers around the wording used in the property rights portion of the document. The lengthy structure of some of the sentences at times obscured the intent, the pair said, with McDonald calling out the portion about up-zoning and down-zoning.

The goal for property rights would state, if passed, that the county will not only protect property rights but will also try to “enhance property values” through intentional land-use planning and by following county and state law.

Under policies, the proposed update would acknowledge the rights of not only adjoining property owners, but also nearby property owners. The draft also explicitly mentions long-term consequences of development and land-use decisions.

As is, the policies for property rights attempt to prevent increases or decreases in land-use intensity by amendments to the zoning map or county code.

After some discussion, the commissioners decided to table the decision on the proposed draft and scheduled a workshop for Thursday, Nov. 3. After this workshop, the revisions could only be adopted at another public hearing with the board.

“Essentially, the board hasn’t had enough time to digest this and come up with the language they want,” Planning Director Jacob Gabell said.

To read the entirety of the proposed goals, objectives, and policies to the county’s comprehensive land use plan, search AM0012-22 on BonnerCountyID.gov.