Diverse groups voice disgust with county land-use process

A rare combination of environmentalists, builders and land developers stood at the base of Tubbs Hill on Wednesday morning and agreed.

These individuals agree that they normally don’t agree on much. Yet they gathered in the drizzle to voice their disgust at how Kootenai County wants to change its rules for how to divide and classify land.

They want the Kootenai County Commission to turn the revision of the subdivision and zoning rules over to a citizens’ advisory committee. They argue that the Planning Commission and County Commission haven’t listened to any of their numerous concerns, evident they said by the fact that the five drafts over the last 16 months satisfy nobody.

If the County Commission approves the subdivision and zoning rules tonight, the group argues the new laws will cause more sprawl that eats up rural areas and increase property taxes.

“Residents should know their quality of life is in jeopardy,” said Joyce Bergen of the League of Women Voters of Kootenai County. “This may be the last opportunity for citizens to fight for reasonable land use management.”

The commission is having a 6 p.m. public hearing on both the subdivision and zoning rules. The commission also is hearing a proposal by Spokane Rock Products to put a 490-acre rock mine near Stateline.

This is the commission’s second hearing on the zoning and subdivision rules. After its June hearing, the commission made enough changes to warrant tonight’s hearing.

County Planning Director Rand Wichman said this isn’t the first time the groups have asked for the commission to create a citizens’ advisory committee.

“The board has expressed concerns about how much time it would take to do that,” Wichman said, adding it could be at least another six months or a year.

Wichman said Kootenai Environmental Alliance and North Idaho Building Contractors already tried to sit down and come to a compromise on the rules but never could reach agreement. That’s why he is unsure if the citizens committee could ever come to an agreement.

The groups did stay clear from specific issues at Wednesday’s press conference.

One of the major contentious points in the proposed changes is whether to restrict building on the county’s steep hillsides.

Initially the drafts included a provision to limit building on hillsides with grades that are steeper than 35 percent. In August, the commission nixed the idea, saying that most people can’t see the majority of hillsides from town. Commissioner Rick Currie said there are already rules in place to protect the area’s aesthetics and there’s no need to ban all development on steep slopes.

NIBCA lobbied the commission to remove the proposal, fearing it would put a moratorium on building in Kootenai County. Housing prices would increase because newcomers still need a place to live, the association argued.

KEA was disappointed with the commission, saying that hillside construction could lead to erosion problems and create eyesores on landmark hillsides.

Yet both groups made assurances Wednesday that they could work together for the good of the community.

“We need a forward-looking subdivision ordinance and to look at innovative ways to maintain the quality of life,” said Carol Sebastian of KEA.

NIBCA spokesman Bob Grossglauser agreed, saying “There’s lots of ways we can work through this.”

The commission also will have a public hearing tonight on Spokane Rock Products’ proposed 490-acre rock mine north of Seltice Way, between Pleasantview and Beck roads. The county and the company have struggled for two years with the specifics of the plan.

In May, the County Commission decided to have another public hearing because it said residents never got a chance to review the county’s version of the development plan, which outlines how the mine would operate.

The company has offered about 15 drafts and still dislikes the county’s insistence of reviewing the operation every 10 years.

The latest version allows the commission to call a public hearing if commissioners think the mine has become incompatible with the new residential growth in the area. The east side of the proposed mine is in Post Falls’ growth path.

Spokane Rock Products argues the economics of the project can’t support the risk of a potential shutdown every 10 years. The company expects the mine to operate for up to 75 years.