Lodge owners want bigger dock

SAGLE, Idaho – The Idaho Department of Lands is considering a request to allow expansion of dock space and moorage on North Idaho’s Pend Oreille River for a restaurant and hotel.

Glenn Harvey and Leslie Wood, owners of the Landing and Lodge at Sandpoint, want to add 70 feet to the dock serving the restaurant and 29 feet to the docks boaters use to reach the hotel.

The two also have asked to be allowed to install mooring buoys in the river.

Patricia Sterling, an adjacent landowner who attended a Lands Department public hearing Thursday, said she was concerned that the expansion could lead to more litter, illegal sewage discharges by boaters, and noxious weeds being brought to the area.

She also questioned placing buoys near a nesting platform used by waterfowl and osprey.

Sterling said the expansion was contrary to the Southside Water and Sewer District’s building moratorium, implemented in 2004 because the district’s treatment system had reached capacity.

“This really looks like an expansion to (an upland land) use,” Sterling said.

Lisa Ailport, a land use planner representing the business owners, said the docks are not considered buildings under Bonner County code, and would not need a building location permit.

She also said the owners have pledged to collect litter and to keep boaters from emptying their waste tanks.

The owners also plan to install signs reminding boaters of the no-wake zone, she said. In Bonner County, no-wake zones extend 200 feet from shore and structures.

As for the nesting platform, Ailport said construction would be timed to avoid disturbing nesting birds.

Lonnie Brew, who also attended the meeting, said more boat parking was needed.

Lands officials are expected to make a decision on the expansion within 30 days.