Following up on Jan. 15 and Feb. 11 meetings — both of which the Bonner County Board of Commissioners continued after four hours — the BOCC will once again meet to discuss the application for a conditional use permit for a communication tower near Highway 95 in Elmira. Interested parties can attend the meeting in person at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 26, at the Bonner County Administration Building (1500 US-2, in Sandpoint) or via Zoom at bonnercountyid.gov/meetings.
In 2023, property owners James and Sandy Dolyniuk submitted the application for a 140-foot tower on their 20-acre parcel, which, if approved, would be built by Harmoni Towers and managed by Verizon Wireless. The proposed site is “approximately 550 feet away” from the nearest existing structure and “more than 40 feet” outside of the property’s wetlands, according to Josh Leonard, of Boise-based Clark Wardle, LLP, representing the applicants.
The proposed tower is intended to improve cell service in the Elmira area and to offer “collocation” opportunities, allowing other wireless companies to use the facility.
The site of the proposed communication tower at the intersection of U.S. 95 and Cindy Lane. Courtesy photo
The BOCC approved the CUP in 2024, but after 20 nearby landowners filed for judicial review, the court vacated the decision and remanded the matter to the county.
According to the Bonner County staff report, the court did not rule against the applicants, but stated that, “Harmoni has failed to offer probative evidence sufficient to support its claim that the proposed tower will be compatible with the surrounding community.”
Opponents of the tower, represented by Norm Semanko, of Boise-based Parsons Behle and Latimer, and homeowner Joan Esnayra, allege that it would negatively affect area property values, clash with “rural character,” and constitute a potential fire and pollution risk due, in part, to the diesel stored on-site and the herbicides and pesticides potentially used to maintain the facility’s grounds.
As an alternative, opponents argued that Verizon could collocate on an existing tower, identify a new site or reduce the proposed tower’s height.
According to Radio Frequency Engineer Steven Kennedy, of Arizona-based Biwabkos Consultants, representing the applicant, the existing towers would either not meet Verizon’s needs or are already at capacity for the number of satellites in use.
The hearing comes amid an ongoing legal contest between Bonner County and Verizon Wireless over another proposed cell tower near Old Town, which the BOCC reversed its decision on in April 2025, denying a previously approved CUP. The commissioners argued that the project lacked an Idaho Transportation Department-approved access easement and conflicted with the Bonner County Comprehensive Plan and Revised Code by interfering with rural character and negatively impacting area homeowners, among other issues.
According to BOCC Chair Brian Domke, the Communications Act of 1996 acknowledges but limits local authority over the placement of cell towers. The commissioners stated in multiple meetings that denying the Old Town CUP would incur litigation, but that they would continue to side with area homeowners opposed to the tower.
The BOCC has yet to enter deliberation on the Elmira CUP and, as such, has not expressed a preference for either side.
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