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Residents urge council to preserve 2015 master plan and press for stronger subdivision and drainage reviews
Summary
Multiple residents asked the Lewiston City Council to uphold the 2015 master plan, raised concerns about a new subdivision ordinance that limits council involvement, and urged stricter drainage and flood-impact studies before rezoning agricultural land.
Several Lewiston residents used the public-comment period to urge city officials to retain the 2015 master plan's core goals and to require stronger technical review before approving subdivisions or rezoning agricultural land.
"I strongly support its continued implementation without changes to its core goals, particularly goals number 1 and number 2, which prioritize preserving our agriculture heritage and small town feel," said John Nelson, a resident who asked the council to keep the 2015 master plan intact.
Cameron Little spoke specifically about Ordinance 24-01, which he described as a state-mandated subdivision rule that shifts final approval authority away from the full city council to three staff positions. "It gives only 3 people the choice of approving subdivisions. City council is no longer involved," he said. Little asked that the city consider holding subdivision approvals until the master plan update is finished and urged discussion of increasing minimum lot sizes.
Resident Brandon Allen pressed the council to require more rigorous drainage analyses before rezoning agricultural parcels. Allen cited Lewiston’s municipal code (10-6-2 and ordinance 13-01) describing the agricultural zone purpose and stormwater requirements and warned that proposed rezoning includes areas that have flooded in past years. He said a developer-driven rezoning without technical, economic and legal drainage studies would be "a clear failure of due diligence."
Council and planning-and-zoning members present said the master plan update process is intended primarily to refresh data and graphics rather than to change the plan's six guiding goals. One planning-and-zoning representative said recent rezone applications had been denied for not fitting the existing master plan.
No formal action or vote on rezoning or subdivision policy took place at the meeting; council members said the general-plan update and planning-and-zoning review remain the primary venues for proposed changes.
