By Soncirey Mitchell
Reader Staff
The Bonner County board of commissioners held a land use hearing Nov. 20 to discuss the proposed areas of impact for the cities of Sandpoint and Priest River; and, while voting to approve both, that meant eliminating the former.
Based on previous deliberations between the BOCC and Sandpoint City Council, commissioners agreed to a complete erasure of the city’s AOI, making it the only municipality in the county without one.
The AOI gives cities input on development and planning decisions near their borders, intended to provide an opportunity to help shepherd land that they will one day annex. After the Legislature approved changes to Idaho Code 67-6526, which significantly reduced cities’ power over surrounding areas, all municipalities were required to redraw their AOIs to comply with the law.
The revised code limits AOIs to property that is “very likely to be annexed” within the next five years and is within two miles of a city’s boundaries. It also requires cities to reevaluate their AOIs every five years and submit their proposed maps to their respective county commissioners for approval.
Property within the boundaries of an AOI is not automatically annexed, and adding or removing property does not affect taxation, county zoning or residents’ addresses.
Sandpoint previously had an AOI of 12.3 acres, which the City Council and Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commission proposed reducing to 3.4 acres in June. This acreage included a contested area near Ontario Street and Chuck Slough, which both Sandpoint and Dover claimed.
After hearing from representatives from both cities, the BOCC determined that neither intended to annex the property in the next five years and, moreover, the area homeowners did not want to be included in either AOI. Following that, the commissioners removed the contested land from both proposals and remanded the maps to the cities, asking them to reduce their proposed AOIs to property they intended to annex.
Sandpoint city councilors voted unanimously Aug. 6 to eliminate the AOI altogether. Mayor Jeremy Grimm argued that, though in theory the city has had a voice in the decision-making process for development within the AOI, “we’ve made comments throughout the years that have been just ignored.”
“Sanpoint stated they have no intention of annexing any properties into the city within the next five years and has requested an area of impact of nothing,” said Interim Planning Director Alex Feyen at the Nov. 20 BOCC meeting.
The BOCC’s motion to accept the eliminated AOI passed without deliberation.
Additional reporting by Zach Hagadone.
