County will reconsider pole barns

Kootenai County is trying to figure out when and where residents can build pole barns to store RVs, boats, cars and other valuables.

To help answer that question – one that has sparked numerous conflicts in the Bonanza Ranch area southeast of Coeur d’Alene – the County Commission will hold a public workshop Jan. 23 to ensure everyone’s concerns are heard. From there, the board plans to change the rules on where these metal buildings are built in agricultural and suburban areas of the county.

“We need to get a clearer understanding and find a balance about what we perceived is going on and what is actually going on,” Commissioner Katie Brodie said.

People in these areas are putting up the structures on cheap lots that can’t support homes because the ground is too rocky to sustain a septic system. The metal buildings are a way for property owners to finally add some value to their land.

At issue is whether the barns, classified as accessory buildings, can be built on empty lots where there is no home. Neighbors who live in these areas complain that the metal buildings are creating “warehouse-type” districts that are ruining the rural charm and property values.

In Bonanza Ranch, a subdivision where most people can’t build because septic systems don’t work in the clay that covers the hard basalt, about 40 of the buildings have popped up in the last two years.

The pole barn controversy has already resulted in a lawsuit, and more were threatened Thursday when the County Commission ruled that the county building director correctly issued seven building permits for pole barns in Bonanza Ranch.

Two couples there appealed the issuance of the permits, arguing that county law doesn’t allow the construction of pole barns on lots lacking a home.

But the commission agreed with a county hearing examiner who recommended last week that all seven pole barns were in compliance with county law. Examiner Lisa Key noted that five of the appeals missed the 28-day appeal deadline.

Linda Payne, who filed four of the appeals along with her husband, Jeff Jeske, blames the missed deadline on the county’s stall tactics and inability to answer their questions. Beth and Gary Parsons filed the other three appeals.

Beth Parsons said Thursday that the appeal process is a sham and was a waste of the $1,260 her family paid in appeal fees. She and Payne vow to take their fight to District Court.

The court already is due to decide a similar case that involved the construction of three pole barns on Violet Avenue, an island of land off 15th Street in Coeur d’Alene.

First District Court Judge Charles Hosack ruled in December that the Kootenai County Commission didn’t provide legal justification for allowing the construction of the pole barns. He ordered the commission to provide that information to the court so he can make an official ruling.

The commission plans to meet Jan. 26 to compile the information to submit to the judge.

Parsons said Thursday that she may wait to file her suit against the county until Hosack makes a final determination in the Violet Avenue case.