County shoreline code changes on ‘back burner’

By Lyndsie Kiebert
Reader Staff

Since the Bonner County Planning Department solicited comments on the county’s shoreline code in November 2020, the issue had seemingly disappeared from the larger local planning landscape — that is, until a development on Boyer Slough brought the topic roaring back into the public conversation in recent weeks.

County Commissioner Board Chair Dan McDonald said June 14 that he wasn’t sure exactly where the Planning Department is in the process of updating the shoreline setback code, but he thought that any changes were temporarily on hold.

A schematic of Lot 3 of The Cove at Whiskey Jack along the Boyer Slough. Courtesy image.

“They were considering new language that would be submitted through the P&Z Commission and finally to the BOCC,” McDonald said, “but with the volume of files coming forward, I believe that’s been put on the back burner.”

Planning Director Milton Ollerton confirmed that his department did receive input on the county’s shoreline code when it solicited comments; however, “we have not progressed much further at this point as we continue to research the best ways to address the shoreline moving forward.”

“As most of our time is going toward updating the Comp Plan, the shoreline code will take another year or so,” he told the Reader on June 14. “The one change that will help with the shoreline is the updating of the enforcement codes.”

The possible changes to shoreline code — along with the county’s existing methods for enforcing that code — surfaced recently as residents in the Boyer Slough area witnessed a four-acre parcel along the shore of Lake Pend Oreille stripped of vegetation.

The preliminary plat application submitted to the county Jan. 26 identifies the property owner as Coeur d’Alene-based Tricore Investments and outlines a site plan of eight lots with a single-family home on each. Applicants have named the subdivision “The Cove at Whiskey Jack.”

In regard to how the project complies with certain objectives of the Bonner County Comp Plan, the application states under the “natural resources” section that the development “will be built in accordance with Bonner County standards and requirements. This development will provide access to Pend Oreille Lake for the homeowners and residents.”

Nonprofit watchdog group Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper publicly voiced concerns about the development’s seeming violation of setback code, and shared that in its efforts to bring the issue to the county’s attention “we got virtually nowhere,” according to Executive Director Steve Holt.

The Lakes Commission, an advisory board charged with protecting area waterways, told the Reader on June 15 that “the four-acre development on Boyer Slough appears to violate both Clean Water Act rules and county rules. The development should have a federal stormwater permit, the Construction General Permit, which would have prevented the total clearing of vegetation to the water’s edge.”

The Lakes Commission was included in an ad hoc committee the county created in 2009, which, “after many months of research, came to a shoreline setback compromise of 40 feet with a vegetative buffer to filter stormwater runoff and protect the stability of the banks,” according to Lakes Commission Executive Director Molly McCahon. 

“A distance of 100 feet or greater is recommended by water quality specialists, and private logging operations cannot clear cut within 75 feet of streams,” she told the Reader. “We support the current 40-foot setback and vegetative buffer, and hope that if any changes are made, they enable the enforcement and adherence to this important code.”

When asked about the alleged violations on Boyer Slough, Ollerton said: “Clearer codes toward enforcement would be beneficial.”

“The owners at the property in the Whiskey Jack area have been very cooperative to address the concerns,” he continued. “It is difficult to prosecute a misdemeanor when the owner is doing everything asked to correct the situation. Nevertheless, a more structured penalty schedule would be helpful in these situations.”

When asked about the alleged violations at the Cove development, Drew Dittman, an engineer with project representative Lake City Engineering, said: “It is our office policy not to comment on active jobs. I can tell you this though, my company was hired to prepare an Erosion and Sediment Control and Best Management Practices Plan for the site.”

Tricore Investments did not reply to a request for comment before press time.

Ollerton said the “change that will come soonest” to Bonner County shoreline code will be enforcement updates, which are being updated across planning and zoning code. This could include an “infraction process,” he said, “to allow for a more immediate response to violations.”

“The one thing about growth is that it amplifies these situations, which helps affect change more efficiently and sooner,” he said.