Commissioners table rezone and map amendment of 1,565-acre Schweitzer parcels

By Soncirey Mitchell
Reader Staf

The Bonner County board of commissioners met with the planning department and members of the public Oct. 23 to hear a proposal from Schweitzer Alterra Mountain Company, to amend the county’s Comprehensive Plan map, as well as rezone 1,565 acres of undeveloped land accessible via Schweitzer Mountain Road and West Selle Road.

The commissioners voted unanimously to table the decision until Thursday, Dec. 12, when they will host another public hearing at 1:30 p.m. in the first-floor conference room of the county Administration Building (1500 US-2, Sandpoint).

Alterra currently owns seven parcels listed as Prime Agriculture/Forest Land, A/F Land and Alpine Community on the Comp Plan map, thus limiting how the land can be zoned. The parcels fall under the A/F 20, A/F 10 and Alpine Village Zoning Districts.

Map courtesy of Bonner County Planning Department.

The applicant requested that the county reclassify the 1,565 acres as Alpine Community and subsequently rezone it to Alpine Village.

“Per the applicant, the purpose of this proposed map change is to better align the parcels with the surrounding properties that were approved in their previous Planned Unit Development and to modify the currently approved PUD map in the future,” said County Planner Alex Feyen, who presented the county staff’s findings.

According to Alterra’s project representative, Daniel Britt, the commissioners approved the PUD of up to 7,773 units nearly 40 years ago.

Prime A/F and A/F designations exist to protect productive farm, ranch or timber lands; however, none of the parcels are currently used for those purposes. To qualify for the Prime A/F designation, the property must also include prime soil and individual sewer and water systems.

Only 20 of the 1,565 acres — approximately 1.2% — contain prime soil if drained.

A/F requires that the property have prevailing slopes of 30% or greater, present challenges for development due to terrain or area hazards, lack access to urban services and be serviced by private roads.

Alterra conceded that some parcels contain slopes of 30% or greater; however, the properties are serviced by public right-of-ways and have access to urban services, water and sewer through Schweitzer.

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has already conditionally approved future wastewater and sewer system expansion, pending the preliminary engineering report, plans and specifications. The developers’ completed water facility plan covers the next 30 years, though as of yet, there are no concrete plans for how they will develop the properties.

Staff ultimately concurred with Alterra that Alpine Community and Alpine Village designations suit the properties, as the definitions allow for a range of housing types and roads in high-elevation communities and can accompany commercial and private resorts.

The Zoning Commission recommended the commissioners approve Alterra’s request Sept. 9.

“This has been a matter of public record for quite some time, so there’s nothing nefarious happening here,” said Britt.

He went on to argue that any future land use would extend the resort’s recreational open spaces, creating wildlife corridors, preserving rural character and positively contributing to the local economy.

Public comments received before and during the meeting were chiefly concerned with water availability, infrastructure and whether or not any future development would align with changes made to the Comp Plan, which the county is in the process of updating.

Schweitzer’s in-house attorney, Janet Robnett, attempted to address these concerns in her presentation.

“As staff has noted, particularly in the context of the Comprehensive Plan amendment, it’s not a proposal for a development. Those issues will be addressed prior to actual development proposals,” she said, arguing that the application should be “considered under the rules and standards that are in place at the time of the application” rather than postponed until after the Comp Plan update.

Commenters requested more information about any planned developments, including studies showing whether the area’s infrastructure could handle the potential additional housing — information that Robnett explained does not yet exist.

“You need to talk about chickens and eggs a little bit because, as a property owner and a developer, you want to know what you’re going to be able to do before you spend lots of money planning for that in the way of specific designs and permitting processes,” she said.

She clarified that if, after the commissioners approve the rezone and map change, Alterra discovers that the area’s infrastructure cannot support further development, then “the developments won’t happen.”

Given the new information presented by Alterra’s representatives, both Commissioner Ron Korn and Chair Asia Williams requested additional time to thoroughly research the proposal before making a decision.

“There are concerns that have been brought up that the applicant has answers to [but] that we did not receive,” said Williams, adding that this vote “is going to domino the next few decisions.”

She additionally expressed her concerns over the fact that, though it was not technically part of the proposal, approval could mean an additional “5,000 homes.”

“This is a huge change in this area. There’s more information that I think that we could ask for and I would like to have the opportunity [to do so] before we change the map,” she said.