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Kootenai County moves to clarify rules for boarding stables, lets director approve final major subdivisions
Summary
County commissioners approved ORA25-0003, a code amendment clarifying when boarding stables, riding arenas and equine training require conditional use permits and authorizing the county director to approve final major subdivisions; Planning Commission previously recommended approval.
Kootenai County commissioners on July 24 approved ORA25-0003, a code amendment intended to remove ambiguity about boarding stables, commercial riding arenas and equine training centers and to authorize the county director to approve final major subdivisions.
The change, presented by David Callahan, director of Community Development, would make clear that many boarding facilities can be a by-right use in agricultural and other zones and would remove an interpretational requirement that often led to conditional use permits (CUPs), Callahan said. "This really in the in a nutshell streamlines reduces cost for people because they won't necessarily have to go through a CUP and eliminates the, interpretational part of this," Callahan said.
Why it matters: Planning staff told the board the 2016 code consolidated some related uses in ways that produced inconsistent references across the ordinance and the use tables. Staff said that ambiguity prompted an appeal two years ago in which a hearing examiner sided with the county’s interpretation but recommended the code be clarified. The Planning Commission held a public hearing on June 26 and unanimously recommended approval, staff said.
What the amendment does: Staff and the county prosecutor recommended the ordinance also include administrative edits to the use tables (referred to in the packet as table 2-11-03) to align the tables with the clarified text. Prosecutor Pat Braden advised the board that including the table edits in the motion would be appropriate.
Public comment and board discussion: Resident Julie McGuire asked for more time to review the changes, saying she had not been informed of the June hearing: "I'd like to know what the changes are that are being made. I'd like time to review it," she said. Callahan and staff responded that the matter had been publicly noticed and that staff could meet with her afterward; staff noted they had previously processed a cottage-industry approval for McGuire that would be unnecessary under the clarified code.
The board deliberated that the amendment would reduce staff time and cost for applicants and make decision-making clearer. Commissioner Metari said the changes would make it easier for staff to make decisions; Commissioner Eberlein concurred.
Vote: The board approved ORA25-0003, including amendments to the use tables. Commissioners Eberlein, Duncan and Chair Metari voted "aye." The motion as recorded directed staff to include the table amendments as part of the ordinance.
What’s next: The ordinance authorizes the director to approve final major subdivisions as described; staff indicated the administrative table edits would be made consistent with the amendment.
