A Request For A Non-Existent Permit

Sometimes, though, a seemingly small proposal with a tiny environmental impact can set a horrendous precedent, and we recently came across one of those projects, which comes up for a hearing later this week. A developer on Hayden Lake is proposing a “variance” to the County’s site disturbance ordinance to construct a walkway and landing in the 25-foot shoreline buffer zone. But when we looked at the County ordinance (pdf here) , there’s no such thing as a site disturbance variance. Now, the County does have a variance procedure (Sections 9-23-2 and 9-23-3 here) for the zoning and building codes, as required by state law .  And maybe the County is supposed to have a variance procedure for the site disturbance ordinance, but it just forgot to write one into the law/Terry Harris, KEA Blog. More here .

DFO: Here’s an example why I’m delighted that Terry Harris started a blog at KEA. I’m delighted that a respected watchdog like KEA has a venue to air its concerns despite the holes in media coverage of local government. The courthouse is relatively free of media scrutiny. But this show that commissioners have to continue to pay attention to planning decisions.