Application For Service Station Back Before Hearing Examiner

Thu., July 8, 1999

By Kristen Kromer kristenk@spokesman.com

A 1997 application regarding the construction of a service station at the southwest corner of Highway 2 and Colbert Road came back before the county hearing examiner last week.

Cliff Cameron, the agent for developer Harley Douglass, appealed an administrative decision that denied reinstatement of his original land-use application. He had applied for a zone change of the area from semi-rural residential-5 to semi-rural.

County Planner Francine Shaw said the application could not be reinstated because the building and planning staff had already refunded the application processing fees, as Cameron requested. Once money is refunded, she added, the application is considered null and void.

Cameron said he only requested the application be “suspended,” not withdrawn, which would give him a year to decide if he wanted to reinstate it.

Area residents are watching this land-use issue carefully, fearing that a zone change could open the area south of Colbert to commercial zoning, making it easier for commercial projects to get approval.

Other projects proposed for the area include a 4.6-acre strip mall and Autumn Ridge at Colbert, a 189-home development on 419 acres.

A bit farther away is the proposed Meadow Glen project - 38 residential lots on 98 acres - which would require a zone change from general agricultural to semi-rural residential-2.

The hearing examiner will likely issue a decision in a few weeks.

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