Bannock County holds hearing to formalize McCammon area-of-city-impact boundaries

Bannock County commissioners held an afternoon public hearing to review revised "area of city impact" boundaries for the City of McCammon, a procedural step county staff said was required by a state law passed last year.

The hearing focused on a reduced footprint negotiated between the county planning and development team and the county's cities. County officials repeatedly said the proceeding was not an annexation hearing and that properties inside the revised area of city impact would remain under county governance and subject to county taxes.

"This is not an annexation hearing. This is not anybody being annexed into the city of McCammon or Pocatello or Chubbuck or any of that. This is just merely a procedural thing dictated by the state legislature that we define who is responsible for the area of city impact and renegotiate those boundaries," the meeting chair said. The chair added that the county had tightened the areas of city impact "because the statute says it only wants areas of city impact big enough that the cities think they can reasonably expect to offer city services within that area within the next 5 years."

Planning staff present for the record included Al Jensen, Planning Director; Tristan Barquin, Assistant Planning Director; and Annie Hughes, Zoning Planner. Commission materials and staff comments stated the county met with all cities in Bannock County and reduced the previously larger boundaries so they reflect areas where cities believe they can provide services within a five-year time frame.

Three members of the public were on the hearing list. Sarah Hedge declined to comment. A resident identifying himself as Buck said, "I've never lived in the city limits. I don't wanna live in the city limits ever. So I just wanna be on record. I don't wanna be annexed at all." Cliff, another resident, praised planning staff and said earlier confusion among residents had prompted strong reactions before staff outreach: "Unbeknownst to you, villagers were gathering pitchforks... Ready to have maybe not so peaceful protest."

Colleen Hall, mayor of McCammon, told the commissioners that two small areas shown on the map in pink represented parcels where property owners had asked to be annexed. "Just the two areas that we have in pink were people that approached us that asked to be annexed," Hall said, citing a small area off Twelfth Street and property identified as McMullen's.

Staff reported no outstanding concerns after the public comment period. The commission opened and then closed the public hearing by motion and voice vote; the meeting record does not show a roll-call tally. The commission recessed for about 10 minutes before moving to the next agenda item.

The record in the portion of the meeting provided shows no formal vote adopting the revised boundaries during the excerpted discussion; the session covered the public hearing and testimony and the commission indicated appreciation for staff work negotiating the smaller footprints with the cities.