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County approves private road dedication for minor land division; staff flag code change needed
Summary
The Board of Commissioners approved a waiver allowing a developer to dedicate a private road for a minor land division. Road and Bridge staff warned the county’s existing code can create isolated public-right-of-way 'islands' and recommended a code amendment to prevent future issues.
Bonner County commissioners approved a request from an applicant for minor land division MLD-0029-24 to allow the proposed road dedication to remain private rather than become a public right of way. Planning staff said the waiver was a condition of approval for the minor land division and that the current code permits dedication of public rights of way that can become isolated from existing public roads.
Alex Fan, planning staff, summarized the proposal: the 13.24-acre parcel would be divided into several lots ranging from about 1.288 to 11.868 acres and currently accesses the property by a private road. The applicant requested a deviation from public road standards (BCRC 12-624(d)) to dedicate the proposed road as private instead of public because it would otherwise create a public-right-of-way with no connectivity to the existing public network.
Bonner County Road and Bridge Director Jason Topp told the board the change from the prior agreement is limited to about three-tenths of a mile on Trussell Creek where a snowmobile turnaround was blocked by a new landowner; Road and Bridge therefore recommends approving the waiver and pursuing a code amendment to require continuous public connectivity so future islands do not arise.
Members of the public asked whether a road dedicated as private could later be converted to public if development continued; staff replied that conversion to a county-maintained public road would require the road to be upgraded to county standards at that future point. Planning staff added that a change to the code would not apply retroactively to files already vested under prior code.
The board approved the waiver by roll call vote. Planning staff said they will bring forward a code amendment plan to prevent isolated public-right-of-way dedications in future cases.
