Five months after the departure of former-Bonner County Planning Director Jake Gabell, landscape architect and longtime planner Kendra Smith has taken over the position. Smith began the onboarding process the first week of March with the help of Alex Feyen, who has been serving as interim planning director since September.
“I’ve had a second home in Bonner County since 2006 and was able to finally call it ‘home’ in 2022 when I moved here full-time,” Smith told the Reader. “I continued to work outside of the area until recently, when I saw the announcement for the Bonner County planning director position. With planning as a passion, I applied.”
Smith previously served as the planning director for La Conner, Wash., and the co-planning and assistant planning director for Skagit County, Wash., which she found shares many of the same traits as Bonner County.
Kendra Smith. Courtesy photo
“Skagit County and Bonner County are similar in the following ways: both have a dominant land base consisting of natural resources (forest, agriculture, water); both face development pressures from growth, bringing with it with diversified options for the future; both offer outstanding recreational opportunities; both have tribal cultures; and both have amazing landscapes offering us a slice of paradise.”
During her tenure in Washington, Smith developed a focus on the preservation of natural resources, beginning with the state’s Growth Management Act, “which included many unfunded mandates requiring major comprehensive plan amendments and related code changes.” The 1990 law sought to manage urban sprawl in growing cities and counties.
“It morphed into the Natural Resource Lands Policy director role, where I was involved in farmland protection through the purchase of development rights and the development of local and state forestry policies and regulations on both state and private lands,” she said.
Smith joins Bonner County amid an yearslong update to the county’s Comp Plan, which deals with property rights, land use regulations and infrastructure — among other issues — helping the county anticipate and shepherd future development. The Bonner County Board of Commissioners has yet to adopt any permanent changes and intends to schedule public workshops on the update, to be held on yet undisclosed dates.
“I am very excited to be part of the Planning Department team and look forward to working with our clients of Bonner County,” said Smith.
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