Bonner County Bee Explains Loss

We are NOT giving up! We KNOW amendments to allow an asphalt plante to rural areas on an active gravel pit were illegally added to our amendments in April and May in 2018 by not being accurate on the Public Notices as the summary put out to the public said Resource Base Code 12-336: Amend and expand uses of gravel pits in industrial zones, BUT at the meeting, instead they ending up adding asphalt plants in rural, agriculture and forest zones - on an active gravel pit. So that means all people in rural, agriculture and forest land had no reason to go battle the changes, they had no idea these changes would occur. This was an ILLEGAL AMENDMENT CHANGE and our lawyer will make it void, which would stop the movement of the asphalt plant to legally move to this location.

In the reconsideration hearing we were not allowed to talk about this - but that doesn't mean our group and our lawyer are not ready to take this to Judicial Review because we know we can win this! 

When our lawyer battles this procedure error, he will also add the battle of nonconforming land issues, which are extremely evident. For example, Linscott's gravel pit was 18 acres when he was grandfathered in 1981, and he is not allowed to grow more than 50% without a conditional use permit.  He has no permit and has over 100 acres disturbed.

In the hearing, it was clear the County Commissioners wanted to ignore the Department of Lands official legal letter than Linscott has been illegal running since 1998 and is required to pay bond and penalties up to 1.8 million dollars, as of now only $10,000 by March 30. 

If the Bonner County Planning Director was doing his job, which included enforcing the laws and codes, and making sure laws are kept regarding land use, he would have shut them down Linscott as soon as he knew Department of Lands letter advised him that Linscott was out compliance, that is his job to do. 

We hope you will consider donating and helping contribute to move forward with our current attorney who WROTE the land use portion of the Idaho Land Use Handbook, so we know we have the right guy on our side.

Mr. Ollerton claimed he received NO official complaints so Monday we will be legally registering our complaint and here it is: 

 (Thanks to Darcey)

March 23, 2019

Milton Ollerton, Planning Director

Bonner County Planning Dept.

1500 HWY 2, Suite 208
Sandpoint,  ID 83864

Re: Complaint of violation of non-conforming standards at Linscott Gravel Pit, Sagle

Citizens against Linscott/Interstate Asphalt Plant wish to formally file a complaint regarding the multiple violations of Bonner County Code, Title 12, Subchapter 3.4 Nonconforming Uses And Structures and request that you proceed according to Subchapter 1.3 - Enforcement.

Attached you will find a letter from our attorney, a letter from the Idaho Department of Lands and a series of maps prepared by one of our members, all of which support our complaint.

Specifically, we believe that Linscott has violated the following provisions of Title 12:

The quarry has been expanded significantly beyond the 10% allowance established in 12-341.A. and no CUP has been requested to increase that allowance to up to 50%.
The quarry has expanded onto several adjacent parcels, Parcel RP56N02W104202A, the Murphy property and the former Dalton property, all after 1981 which is prohibited in 12-343.
Multiple structures have been placed on the property since 1981, contrary to 12-341 and 12-343.A.

At the reconsideration hearing you stated that you questioned whether or not the non-conforming standards of the Code apply to quarries since they are a resource use. We would like to direct your attention to 12-341C which states “If a nonconforming use is discontinued for a period of two (2) years or more, further use of the property shall conform to this title. For "surface mines", as defined in section 12-813 of this title, it shall be concluded that the operator has permanently ceased surface mining operations as to a given affected land if no "minerals", as defined in section 12-813 of this title, have been removed from the mine in question for a period of three (3) years or more. Discontinued nonconforming uses are also governed by the standards of Idaho Code section 67-6538, as it may be amended or retitled from time to time. If a nonconforming use has been discontinued for two (2) or more years, the county may require a written declaration of intent from the landowner, pursuant to the provisions of Idaho Code section 67-6538. (Ord. 524, 1-11-2012)”.

Why would the Code specifically address surface mines (quarries/gravel pits) in the section governing non-conforming uses and structures if they were not intended to be covered by these standards? It is in fact the only use specifically addressed in Subchapter 3.4. In addition, after discussing surface mines, the Code contains no language exempting them from the other provisions of the subchapter. It is clear that the Code intends to include surface mines under all of the provisions of Subchapter 3.4.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.