Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Zoning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Kootenai County continues Elder Road conditional-zoning hearing to July 10
Summary
The Kootenai County Community Development hearing on a proposed conditional zoning development agreement (CZDA) for two Elder Road parcels was continued to July 10 after staff and commissioners said the CZDA is broader than the previously approved conditional uses and asked the applicant to narrow proposed uses.
Kootenai County commissioners on Thursday continued the public hearing on a proposed conditional zoning development agreement for two parcels on Elder Road, setting a new hearing for July 10 at 10 a.m.
The hearing, a continuation of a May 8 public hearing on ZON24-0007 and ZON24-0008, focused on a CZDA the applicant submitted to expand permitted commercial uses beyond earlier, narrowly written conditional use permits approved for an RV park and boat-storage facility. County staff said the CZDA as drafted is broader than the conditional permits and broader than what staff considers appropriate for that rural location.
Ben Tarbutton, Community Development staff, told the board that the CZDA would allow a broader scope of commercial activity than the property’s existing conditional use permits. "In our opinion, the proposed conditional zoning development agreement is too broad in scope," he said, adding that the CZDA excludes only a few uses that normally are allowed in a straight commercial zone.
Why it matters: commissioners said the key policy choice is whether to change the zoning to a commercial designation with wide-ranging allowable uses or to use a narrower CZDA that approves specific uses and project limits. The parcels previously had narrowly defined conditional uses; multiple commissioners said they prefer specific, limited language rather than broad, open-ended zoning.
County staff displayed the CZDA's principal numeric limit: a 5% maximum building-footprint cap based on parcel area. Staff calculated that cap as roughly 73,000 square feet on the 33-acre westerly parcel and about 59,000 square feet on the 27-acre easterly parcel, and noted staff does not view the 5% cap as a strong restriction. Ray Kimball, speaking for the applicant, said the 5% cap was intentional to prevent large, inappropriate developments and to preserve most of the property free of structures while allowing small commercial uses.
Public testimony was mixed. Jillian Harmon, representing the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, reiterated tribal opposition and said the tribe "formally and strongly opposes the application and strongly urges the county to deny it." Nearby property owner Mike Hill said he was "strongly opposed" and declined to add new comments beyond prior testimony. The applicant's representative said the applicant had edited the CZDA to remove what they considered the most objectionable commercial uses and reported more than 90% public support among respondents.
Commissioners debated next steps and legal constraints. Several commissioners said they preferred that staff and the applicant work together to narrow the CZDA or propose limited changes to the conditional use permits already approved, rather than approve a broad rezoning. Legal counsel and staff advised that expanding existing conditional use permits to add uses not authorized by the zone may be legally problematic and that the CZDA is the correct mechanism if the board wants to authorize a limited, project-specific set of allowed uses.
The board took one formal action: a motion to continue the public hearing for ZON24-0007 and ZON24-0008 to July 10 at 10 a.m. The motion passed unanimously.
What’s next: staff and the applicant were directed to continue negotiations and return to the board with a narrowed CZDA or other specific, use-limited proposals for the commissioners to consider on July 10.
