House committee advances bill clarifying agricultural protection areas after Canyon County disputes

A House legislative committee voted to send Senate Bill 1133 as amended to the full House with a do-pass recommendation after a daylong hearing on clarifying Idaho's agricultural protection area (APA) law.

The bill sponsor, Representative Kevin Andrus, said the measure is "just a a minor little cleanup from the from the bill that we passed last year," and described changes that: cap administrative application fees at actual administrative expenses; require a separate APA map so counties need not rezone or amend comprehensive plans when APAs are created; clarify appeal procedures and allow judicial review; and state that residential, commercial, manufacturing, industrial, solar or wind structures do not automatically disqualify a parcel so long as the parcel still has an agricultural use.

The measure is intended to fix implementation issues that emerged after last year's House Bill 608 established the APA framework. Testimony from agricultural groups and growers focused on Canyon County, where local zoning language had been interpreted to bar many landowners inside certain city "areas of impact" from applying for APAs. Roger…