Hello Supporters of NO asphalt plant in Sagle,
Linscott would NOT CHANGE any language recommended to them by the Planning Department or by Planning Commissioners, so we are at risk of and ASPHALT PLANT due to the language presented.
DO SOMETHING!
We have huge trouble brewing and we need all of us to participate and write your letters to:
Please write and say you:
OPPOSE AM0004-22 - LINSCOTT AMENDMENT
I cannot do this alone!
LETTERS DUE BY WEDNESDAY AT 12 MIDNIGHT.
The Linscott amendment does not clarify the nonconforming land use laws, in fact, causes grey areas in interpretation. This amendment would allow nonconforming quarries to be able to expand from parcel boundary to parcel boundary, not allowed anywhere else in Idaho, and nonconforming quarries would NOT be required to get a Conditional Use Permit (CUP).
The permitting process allows conditions to be set for each pit that determine how close the property boundaries the pit will be allowed to grow, hours of operation, any mitigation required for things like traffic, etc. This ensures that gravel pits can operate to supply gravel we all need, while limiting, or at least mitigating, the negative impact on neighboring landowners. The system has worked well for pit owners and neighbors alike, where the rules have actually been adhered to.
The Idaho State statute requires zoning laws to uniform and this amendment would favor nonconforming land use quarries, since new quarries, located in the same zones, would require the owner/operator to get CUP, while nonconforming ones would not.
In YOUR letter - remind the county commissioners that the planning commissioners recommended denial and they should follow their decision.
They recommended denial on this application for several reasons, the language could imply that asphalt plants would now be allowed where current code does not allow them. Commissioners also felt that eliminating CUPs for nonconforming gravel pits was not uniform application of the law, since new pits would be required to obtain one.
Be reminded of this:
The Linscotts, owners of Linscott Gravel pit, who are asking for this amendment, lost in a Supreme Court ruling in 2018, which determined they had outgrown their nonconforming land use by as much as 500%. The County and Supreme Court were presented documentation proving growth far beyond what is allowable in our Bonner County Revised Code, and the Supreme Court ruled that the County was arbitrary and capricious in not taking the evidence into consideration when approving an asphalt plant. They awarded Citizens Against Linscott Interstateattorney’s fees for their appeal, yet the County has never to this date enforced Lincscott’s egregious code violations.
Here is a link to all the files (application, narrative, staff report, etc.) related to the amendment application.
https://www.bonnercountyid.gov/FileAM0004-22
This amendment, AM0004-22, will be presented to the County Commissioners on June 8th, at 1:30pm at the County Building.
To support our legal fees to stop any change that would allow an asphalt plant, please write, also you can help financially by sending checks to:
Citizens Against Linscott Interstate Asphalt
or
CALI
259 Meadow Ln, Sagle, ID 83860
Questions or comments or ?
nosagleasphaltplant@gmail.com