Greetings KBCR followers,
We are still fighting the good fight to keep our county rural and stop the high-density rubber stamping. Below is an update on what we have done and what we all still need to do because this fight is not over and in fact it has intensified.
Selle Valley Reconsideration Hearing Update:
At the Selle Valley Rezone Reconsideration Hearing—On May 4th Commissioners McDonald and Connolly voted to uphold the Selle Valley 714 acre rezone to allow the applicants Skinner/Otis to DOUBLE the allowed density. Thank you to the folks who showed up for this second reconsideration (the first was continued due to a gas leak at our Attorney’s office).
It has been a long haul and while we didn’t win with the commissioners, we will be taking this battle to the courts.
Please consider helping to fund the attorney by contributing on our website here
Our attorney, Preston Carter of Givens Pursley did a great job at the hearing, but the commissioners are tone-deaf. Nevertheless, our attorney believes (as do I) that we have a good chance in court for many reasons such as: The commissioners limited our argument to one issue - public services - even though we submitted 16 pages of points that should have been heard. The court will not limit what can be heard, and we have some powerful evidence. Also the commissioners made a few errors during the hearing that will help us in court. Stay tuned for the details of the court date, but know that we will not be able to do this without funding. As a mater of fact, we have now exhausted our coffers to get this far.
Can you zoom in or show up May 11th at 1:30pm?
To stop all of the rezones, we wrote a code amendment, but the commissioners then wrote their own to counter ours, with the idea that they would keep churning out the rezones. Their hearing is scheduled for the 11th.
If you attend via zoom or in person, here are some facts you can speak about:
· KBCR Code Amendment to stop the rezones was submitted November 4, 2021.
· County Amendment to churn out rezones was submitted March 23, 2022.
· KBCR took our amendment to the Planning and Zoning Commission first as is customary and we did TWO workshops and incorporated the suggestions by the P & Z Commission (that P & Z has now been disbanded – also apparently in response to our code amendment).
· The county scheduled their own amendment before ours even though we submitted ours 5 months ahead of theirs!
· We are asking the commissioners this Wednesday to table their hearing until they can hear the KBCR amendment.
The beginning of RV Parks as affordable housing
On May 5th there was a hearing about an RV Park that is proposed as an affordable housing complex. The code does not allow this but that didn’t stop Dan McDonald’s developer buddies on the Zoning Commission. As usual, the zoning code was ignored.
At the hearing, the room was packed and many people testified about how the RV park is in clear violation of the zoning code and also of the many credible reasons RV Parks simply should not become affordable housing complexes in rural areas, especially not when they QUADRUPLE the density. The Zoning Commission voted to allow the applicant to bring more information about water and some other items but they gave the signal that they will be approving it when they get that information.
Big shout out to Jannette Bendinelli! She contacted us asking for help on how to stop this application. We led her through the process and helped her with her case. But she did ALL of the heavy lifting on this and got over 40 people to send in letters of opposition and got the folks to turn out to the standing room only hearing.
Please sign her petition to keep abreast of this case.
Do you want to live next to an RV affordable housing complex where they can quadruple the allowed density? If they get this one installed, there will be more and your neighborhood could be next since they are allowing them in all residential zones.
Mark your calendars for May 25th KBCR Code Amendment
Reminder that our own code amendment to stop rezones will be on May 25th at 1:30 at the county building. Stay tuned for an update when this gets closer.
And finally, please don’t forget to vote on May 17th!
I want to remind you that we cannot as a practical matter, continue to fight the commissioners indefinitely. They hold all the power, and the only way to win is to put good people in office.
None of the other District 3 commissioner candidates have expressed any interest whatsoever in fighting irresponsible growth. They contradict themselves without meaning to because they don't comprehend even the most elementary aspects of Planning.
I am the ONLY District 3 candidate that has been fighting for you and will continue to do so as commissioner. No other candidate has agreed to stop the individual rezones and one in particular, Luke Omodt has come out in favor of the quad cities approach to planning. This is where Sandpoint, Kootenai, Dover and Ponderay would all become as one big city sharing sewer and water projects that would certainly raise your taxes and pack in the density. It is the opposite of the direction that we should to be taking if we want to keep this county rural. None of other candidates have expressed any interest in fighting irresponsible growth. They even contradict themselves regularly without meaning to because they don't comprehend even the most elementary aspects of Planning.
Asia Williams is the only District 2 candidate that has also been working toward our rural goals. If you vote for both of us, we can take this county back FOR THE PEOPLE.
Please vote and call all of your friends to vote on May 17th in the most important election Bonner County has ever had.
For the People,
Dave Bowman
KBCR Chair
(208) 255-0698