Watered-Down Shoreline Proposal Is Debated
Developers could bulldoze along the lakeshore under a watered-down version of a proposed law governing waterfront development.
The proposed Kootenai County “site disturbance” ordinance is the subject of a public hearing before the county commissioners tonight.
The original version of the law created a 75-foot buffer zone - where no digging could occur - between the water and construction.
The new version eliminates all county lakes and the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane rivers from the 75-foot setback requirement. A 25-foot setback would remain for structures, but not bulldozing for yards, retaining walls or other projects.
“When it comes to water quality impact, you can always find people who say it’s important,” said Jon Mueller, a county planning official who helped forge the compromise. “When it comes to individual lot owners, it comes to ‘You let George do it, why can’t I?”’ The compromise maintains the 75-foot restriction for streams.
In addition, construction within 75 feet of lakes and rivers will not be approved unless the builder can provide a plan for stormwater treatment that will keeps 80 percent of phosphorous, nitrogen and metals from the water, and 90 percent of solid materials on land.
Lot owners who believe the characteristics of their land make those standards impossible to meet can apply for a variance from the county.
The original version of the law was changed after real estate agents and builders complained that the law would make certain lots useless for building and clog the county with appeals.
“They don’t want the right to pollute the water,” said Commissioner Bob Macdonald. “They want to build close to the water. At the same time they want to preserve the lake quality. I think we all want the same thing.”
The revised proposal, however, doesn’t have the guardians of water quality jumping up and down with glee.
“Removing all the vegetation all the way down to the water is not a good idea,” said Shireene Hale, a senior environmental specialist with the Panhandle Health District. “The trees and the grass keep the bank stable and keeps the water from eroding the shoreline.”
The Clean Lakes Coordinating Council, a group appointed by the governor, supported the original version of the ordinance, but director Lisa Prochnow said she wasn’t sure whether the council would approve of exempting lakes and rivers from the setback requirement.
“Those are pretty critical areas,” she said.
Critics and proponents agreed, however, that the proposed ordinance was better than what it’s designed to replace.
“We at least have stream protection zones for small creeks,” Hale said. That will help water quality in the lakes and rivers in the long run.
, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: HEARING The public hearing starts at 6 tonight in the Lake City Junior Academy, 111 Locust Ave.