Mica Flats Shop Pits Residents, Commissioners Favoritism Alleged In Dispute Over Whether County Law Broken

Critics say Kootenai County commissioners let a fellow politician break county laws by selling logging equipment in a rural area.

At issue is a non-profit shop on Mica Flats that buys insurance, safety gear and first aid kits in bulk and supplies them to loggers.

Since the area eight miles south of Coeur d’Alene is in the country, county law bans commercial activity. But commissioners allow it to operate anyway. Only homes and “private or public non-profit community organizations” are supposed to be allowed.

Commissioners say their approval captures “the spirit” of the law because the shop is run by a timber organization.

The feud has led to a lawsuit filed against the county by residents worried about their neighborhood’s character.

While the shop has been open nearly a year, the battle is expected to come to a head Monday night. That’s when planning commissioners will consider a change to county ordinances that would make the shop technically legal.

“They (county commissioners) are trying to change the law so it fits with what they’ve already done,” said Commissioner-elect Ron Rankin, who backed neighbors’ efforts to close the shop.

The dispute dates to 1995, when the 600-member Associated Logging Contractors bought a run-down house on U.S. Highway 95. The principal officer of the non-profit group is Jack Buell, a longtime commissioner in Benewah County.

The logging group applied for permission to turn the house into a headquarters that sold small amounts of logging supplies to contractors.

The case went before an independent hearing officer in 1995.

That hearing officer said that while the shop was non-profit, it would have deliveries, up to 10 employees, would operate like a business and belonged in an urban area. He vetoed the request.

The logging group appealed to county commissioners, who overruled the examiner.

“The feeling was that the intent of the law was to allow that type of use in the area,” Commissioner Dick Compton said. “The hearing examiner had the wrong slant on it.”

The group bought an “eyesore” of a house, fixed it up and is using it to represent part of the county’s heritage, the agricultural community, Compton said.

“There are no more than four people there at one time, and mostly there’s two ladies,” Compton said. “There’s no traffic. It’s not a commercial operation. It’s not a threat to the neighborhood.”

Neighbor Gail Carter doesn’t see it that way.

“It is an up-and-running business,” she said. “They’re selling products, they’re open regular hours, have customers and delivery trucks coming and going. It’s a business.”

Carter said commissioners just tried to help out a fellow politician.

“I think there’s a personal relationship or camaraderie between Jack Buell, a commissioner, and Dick Compton, a commissioner,” she said. “It’s that whole ‘good old boy’ thing going on.”

Buell could not be reached for comment. Compton exploded at charges that he was showing favoritism to Buell or anyone else.

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of,” he said. “We’re on very high ground with this thing.”

Carter sued the commissioners over their decision, asking for an injunction to close the shop.

She said commissioners are now trying to “moot the lawsuit” by adding timber- and forestry-related businesses to a list of what’s allowed in rural areas.

Compton said commissioners are trying to “clean up” wording in the ordinance to allow for timber and forestry shops in rural areas.

“It was within the spirit of the law, but the words weren’t there,” he said.

The issue will be debated 6 p.m. Monday before the planning commission at Lake City Junior Academy, 111 Locust Ave.

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