Public hearing on Deerfield Subdivision continued to Sept. 9

By Soncirey Mitchell
Reader Staff

The Bonner County board of commissioners and Planning Department met Aug. 14 to discuss the preliminary plat for the proposed Deerfield Subdivision off of Baldy Mountain Road, which partially abuts the city-owned property that houses the nonprofit Baldfoot Disc Golf Course. 

After two hours of discussion, the commissioners voted to continue the meeting until Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 1 p.m. to solicit more information from the developers.

Members of the public can attend the hearing in person at the Bonner County Administration Building (1500 Hwy. 2, in Sandpoint) or remotely via Zoom at bonnercountyid.gov/meetings.

The proposed subdivision — developed by Deerfield LLC, which is managed by Sandpoint City Councilor Rick Howarth — would convert approximately 32.67 acres into 24 lots, all between one and three acres. Deerfield would comply with the suburban zoning designation, which is meant to facilitate residential development on the outskirts of cities where urban services and paved roads are available, according to Bonner County Code. If approved, the homes will utilize the Syringa Heights Water District and individual septic systems.

The Bonner County Zoning Commission voted unanimously in June to recommend approval of the preliminary plat, subject to standard conditions such as a fire risk assessment approved by Northside Fire District and a stormwater runoff and erosion control plan endorsed by a Bonner County engineer.

Though these conditions would have to be met before the final plat could be approved, Commissioners Brian Domke and Ron Korn argued that developers should provide those assessments and signatures before the preliminary plat.

“I think we have, as a county, had a history of being too loose with saying, ‘We’re going to allow almost everything that gets brought up as a concern to be a condition of approval,’ and then you really just don’t know what the process is going to do because we didn’t do enough up-front planning to have a level of confidence of what the outcome would be,” said Domke at the Aug. 14 meeting.

He later added that voting through a preliminary plat with conditions of approval “kind of feel[s] like we’re cheating the system.”

Domke pointed to the soil’s drainage in particular as a concern that should be addressed, in part, before approval. Representatives from Panhandle Health District performed percolation — or “perc” — tests at the site to recommend soil amendments and septic system configurations, but they cannot know how the final system will work until after its construction. The act of digging and building the septic systems will, in itself, change the structure of the soil and the outcome of the perc tests.

“Obviously, practically, we want to be as close as we can to the conditions in which the actual septic system would be installed to better understand the impacts. So, on that front, I can see where there could be some better information by doing that mid-process,” said Domke.

The southern portions of the development include sections of Syringa Creek, an official wetland designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The wetlands do not count toward individual lot size — as they cannot be built on — and developers are working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to create an up-to-date map of the adjacent floodplain. 

As of Aug. 14, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had requested additional information and had yet to release revised maps.

“I’m still not convinced that I can say to the affirmative that we’re not going to create an issue with regard to [the Bonner County] Comprehensive Plan at this time without understanding the final results of the the floodplain information and having — what I consider to be — a complete preliminary plat with the discrepancies resolved and missing information provided to see how all that works together,” said Domke.

The commissioners expect to have additional information and approvals tied to the preliminary plat before the Sept. 9 meeting. If approved, developers will begin working on the final plat, which will also need the commissioners’ approval.

For more information, or to give written public comment, visit bonnercountyid.gov/FileS0001-25.