Paving facility decision nearing
Commissioners to make determination after touring Athol plant
Coeur d’Alene Paving is one step closer to building an asphalt plant near Rathdrum, and will likely know by next week whether Kootenai County commissioners will allow the controversial facility.
Many neighbors oppose the plant as well as a recent conversion of 20 acres of agricultural land on the overall site to mining land. Kootenai County commissioners approved that swap last week, allowing the company to switch designations on the neighboring 20-acre parcels. This week they will tour Coeur d’Alene Paving’s Athol asphalt plant before making a determination next Thursday on whether to approve the company’s application to operate a plant on its property off Highway 53 near Rathdrum.
“I kind of figured it was a no-brainer,” Coeur d’Alene Paving’s Phill Weist said of the land swap. “It’s going to improve the safety of our operation out there.”
Without the change the company would have had to build a road to get its gravel trucks out to Atlas and then onto Highway 53. With the change the company will be able to directly access Highway 53, Weist said.
The site is south of the highway, north of Boekel Road between Atlas and Ramsey roads.
Neighbors say increased mining activity and an asphalt plant will cause their quality of life to plummet.
“The county will do what they want to do,” neighbor Marian Rawson said of the land zoning trade decision. “They’ll probably put the asphalt plant in and not care what the impact is on our property values or health.”
Coeur d’Alene Paving’s Weist said that the plant will be state-of-the-art and operated to minimize its effects on neighboring homes, but others aren’t convinced.
“It’s sad,” said neighbor Tiny Wilson of the county’s decision to allow the zoning change. “We probably should have listened to Coeur d’Alene Asphalt when they said it was a done deal.”
Still, Wilson said he won’t take approval of the asphalt plant without a fight.
“We have some other options we’re looking at,” he said, but refused to elaborate.
If Kootenai County commissioners approve the asphalt plant, it will likely be operational this year, Weist said.
Rawson said she hopes the plant won’t be approved.
“All I care about is that the neighbors out here have a peaceful existence,” Rawson said.