The Kootenai County hearing examiner closed the public record Thursday after a hearing on conditional-use permit application CUP 20-5-4 from Bayview Bible Church, which seeks to build a place of assembly and worship on five platted lots in Baywatch Estates in unincorporated Bayview. The examiner said he will write a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners, which will make the final decision.

The application requests consolidation of five residential parcels into a single lot, construction of a roughly 12,900-square-foot building with a maximum on-site occupancy of about 300 people, and site improvements including parking and landscaping. Beth Henkel, Kootenai County Community Development staff, told the hearing the project would need lot consolidation before building and that utilities would be provided by the Bayview Water and Sewer District. She said the county received a will-serve letter from the district but that portions of the letter referenced platting requirements that are not typically enforced through a conditional-use permit review.

The hearing drew more than three dozen people; several dozen spoke in favor and one neighboring lot owner spoke in opposition. Supporters described the church’s long presence in Bayview and said a dedicated building would allow safer, code-compliant gatherings and additional community services. Opponents said the proposed scale — 300 people and a large parking area across five lots — would be “intense” for a restricted residential zone and raised concerns about noise, nighttime lighting, and compatibility with recorded covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs).

"We aren't asking to start a church," said Joel Carlson, identified as senior pastor of Bayview Bible Church. "The church body is already in Bayview and has been for decades. . . . Our goal is to build as quickly as possible a house of worship on the land we already own and a place already designated for a church building." Carlson said the congregation has grown, attendance has roughly doubled in two years, and the group currently meets in the Bayview Community Center.

Beth Henkel said the site is within the county's restricted residential zoning with a comprehensive-plan designation of shoreline, and staff reviewed the request against the Kootenai County Land Use and Development Code. Henkel said staff recommended the applicant comply with Article 4.6 (landscaping), Article 4.7 (parking) and Article 4.8 (signage) as conditions if the permit is approved, and that building permit review would address many technical issues raised by other agencies.

Henkel told the hearing that Bayview Water and Sewer District issued a will-serve letter indicating capacity to serve the project but that several items in the district's letter appeared tied to platting and dedication processes. "A conditional use permit is not a planning process," Henkel said, adding that the applicant could address district requirements at the building-permit stage but that the hearing body could impose a condition requiring coordination with the district before the matter goes to the commissioners.

Neighbor Suzanne Signer, who said she owns the lot directly behind the proposed building, opposed the permit and called the project "intense." Signer said she feared late-night lighting, car-door noise from large gatherings and the overall footprint, and noted confusion over how the proposed setbacks and landscape buffers would be applied. "We chose this neighborhood for its peaceful environment and protections," she said, adding that the amended CC&Rs recorded in 2012 were a sticking point for neighbors and purchasers who may not have been aware of the change.

Marcus Valentine, the project's architect, said the current design meets required setbacks, includes landscape buffer yards and keeps the building’s height within code limits by recessing the sanctuary into the hillside so the main floor functions as a daylit basement. "The lighting will be designed in accordance with the county's requirements. We have house-side shields and downward facing lighting," Valentine said. He also said the 12,900 square feet is spread across two floors and that the building will be designed to current codes, which he argued would improve public-safety conditions compared with the congregation's current use of the community center.

Community Development Director David Callahan clarified lighting standards cited in the hearing, saying the county's standard for permitted outdoor lighting in this context would be about 0.2 foot-candles and described that level as "de minimis." Callahan also said that customary incidental activities for a church — weddings, funerals and similar events — would be within the scope of uses the county expects for a place of worship in a CUP review.

Other technical matters discussed at the hearing included Lakes Highway District's requirement that access approaches align with locations on the recorded plat, Timberlake Fire and Kootenai County Building Division requirements at the building-permit stage, and the existence of five equivalent residential (ER) allocations on the five lots that staff said could be consolidated into a single ER if the lots were merged.

The hearing examiner said he had collected sufficient testimony and evidence to prepare his written recommendation. He closed the record and said he would send the recommendation to county staff, who will place the matter on the Board of County Commissioners' agenda; the commissioners will render the final decision.

The record remains closed for CUP 20-5-4 pending the examiner's written recommendation and the commissioners' review.