Boundary County Planning and Zoning Commission
Minutes
October 20, 2016
Attending:
Public:
(16-125 – R Unruh) – R Unruh, Meredith Keller, Clint Kimball (Road & Bridge), Joe Farrell (realtor), John Marquette (JRS Surveying), Adam Isaac
Planning & Zoning:
| Caleb Davis, Kim Peterson, Matt Cossalman, Marciavee Cossette, Ron Self, John Cranor, Tim Heenan, Wade Purdom (video conference link)
Absent:
| Scott Fuller, Counselor Tevis Hull
Staff:
| John Moss
At 5:30 pm Co-Chairman Caleb Davis opened the meeting and read the script for conduct of Public Hearings, reviewing the procedure to be followed for all official proceedings per Section 19 of the Boundary County Zoning and Land Use Ordinance 2015-2. After it was determined there were no questions related to procedure, Davis established that although this hearing had been tabled and was a continuance of a hearing closed to public comment (at the time the hearing was tabled) that if the Commisssion wanted to hear additional public comment the hearing could be reopened to public comment. Ron Self recused himself due to being absent at the prior meeting. Mat Cossalman moved to reopen and accept public comment, Tim Heenan seconded, and Chairman Davis asked for a vote. The P&Z Commission members present voted unanimously to reopen the hearing to public comment. Chairman Davis opened hearing on application 16-125 by Roger Unruh concerning a Long Plat Urban Subdivision.
[ Planning & Zoning minutes are transcribed from the conversation that takes place during the meeting. Topics are condensed, eliminating verbatim comment in order to condense the material. Key points are included in this extraction and all votes taken are recorded.]
Davis asked the applicant if he wished to make an opening statement. Roger Unruh said that basically the City of Moyie Springs, Road & Bridge, Three Mile Water and the City of Bonners Ferry had met on Monday night (October 17th) ande come to an agreeement concerning the revised plat for the proposed Urban Subdivision, namely lots 1 to 7 along the west side of East Mountain View Road. Mr. Unruh asked John Marguette of JRS Surveying to describe the amendment as agreed upon by those present at the Monday meeting.
Mr. Marquette shared a draft of the new proposed subdivision, including points of access for the lots 1&2 (shared location), 3&4 (containing a proposed 60 foot easement between the two properties) lots 5&6 (shared location), and lot 7 (individual access point). Mr. Marquette provided an additional diagram revealing how future development of the 40 acres behind lots 1-7 could be accessed through the shared easement separating lots 3&4 in the future, such provision being made to ensure the access using Division Street (previously opposed due to insufficient width provisions) was not included in future design considerations.
In response to questions for Mr. Marquette asked by the P&Z Commission, it was determined that no written form of an agreement was provided, nor was the discussion of any future provision for development of the 40 acres in any way a requirement for adopting the proposed amendment regarding the Urban Subdivision to consist solely of lots 1-7.
After hearing from Mr. Marquette, Davis asked if there were any members of the public present who wished to speak in favor of the application. Joe Farrell said he was still in favor of the project as newly proposed, indicating that his remarks from the previous (initial) hearing on this application were still valid. The P&Z Commission had no further questions for Mr. Farrell.
There being no-one present who wished to speak more in favor of the proposal, nor were there any speakers neutral to the proposal, Mr. Davis asked if there were any who were opposed to this plan. Meredith Keller spoke in opposition to the application. He pointed out there were no engineers involved in the design of this proposal, and suggested that planning for school bus turnaround areas was overlooked completely. Keller said these requirements were entirely overlooked and went on to say that the involvement by the City of Moyie Springs did not include the City Council or the Mayor of Moyie Springs and therefor the acceptance credited to Moyie Springs was incorrect.
The Planning & Zoning Commission clarified Mr. Keller’s parcel location as being adjacent to the 40 acre parcel along the privately maintained section of S. Division, which is not included in the amended proposed subdivision and that his concerns might be addressed in any future proposal regarding the 40 acre parcel remaining. Any impact would be placed on the other section of S. Division which is maintained by the City of Moyie Springs.
In further clarification, Mr. Marquette stated that the City of Moyie Springs had been invited to the Monday night meeting and had sent a representative to that meeting; Moyie Springs approval was given for this proposed application.
Davis replied that without there being any documented findings submitted to the P&Z Commission, in regard to the meeting with the representative of the Moyie Springs City Counsel, that such alleged approval could not be accepted, as it is only unconfirmed hearsay at this point. In reply, Mr. Marquette stated that he would be able to provide those findings to the P&Z Commission.
Clint Kimball shared that the approval of Road & Bridge was based on reasonable driveway locations, such locations providing distances between driveways (shared by 1&2, by 5&6, common to an easement between 3&4) acceptable to Road & Bridge standards for distance between driveways. He further shared that any future development had Road & Bridge approval if the easement provided between lots 3&4 gave access to the 40 acre parcel lying west of the subdivision addition as proposed.
In response to Planning & Zoning questions concerning utility placement (electricity pedestals, water line access fro water available along the east side or East Mountain View Road, Mr. Kimball said the specific locations were not known to him but that Bonners Ferry (electricity) and Three Mile Water association had agreed that they can supply a Letter of Intent to Serve if such a document is required. Mr. Kimball also said that although the provision for placing water and utility lines under the road might seem to weaken the road, such placement can be staged so as not to be a problem; he stated that advance planning allows for providing structural support for water and electrical service lines placed strategically in support of multiple lots.
Davis asked for clarification regarding an updated status report. Staff responded by showing the updated status report which reflected the changes Mr. Marquette addressed; he shared that essentially the staff report and analysis remain unchanged, and that the requested (amended) plat had been provided.
Davis again closed the hearing to public comment, and the ensuing discussion clarified that previous concerns expressed by the P&Z Commission had been addressed. Matt Cossalman moved to recommend approval of the application with three (3) terms and conditions:
1. Access to lots 1-7 will be via East Mountain View Road
2. Common access points established for lots 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, 7 by itself: such points to provide ingress/egress access as well as establish the location for utilities
3. Final Plat signatures require City of Moyie Springs and Road & Bridge approval
Before seconding the motion the P&Z Commission discussed the need for Panhandle Health to also be included in the motion. Staff emphasized that this was already a requirement for any subdivision plat.
Tim Heenan seconded and the motion with 3 terms & Conditions was voted as follows:
Scott Fuller - Absent, Tim Heenan - Aye, Wade Purdom - Aye, Matt Cossalman – Aye. Marciavee Cosette - Aye, Ron Self -Abstain, John Cranor - Aye, Kim Peterson - Aye
Tally; 6 approve, 0 recuse, 1 abstain, 1 absent. Caleb Davis – Chair (tiebreaker),
The motion by the P&Z Commission is to recommend approval subject to the three (3) enumerated Terms & Conditions, to the Boundary County Board of Commissioners, of the Long Plat Urban Subdivision Application 16-125 by Roger Unruh.
Davis asked if anyone had any changes or concerns regarding the minutes for September 15, 2016. There being none, he asked for an approval of the minutes from the September 15 meeting. Matt Cossalman moved to accept; Tim Heenan seconded, and the minutes were approved unanimously.
Next on the agenda was the election of officers in the wake of Kim Poeterson’s decision to resign as Chairman. Ron Self nominated Caleb Davis for Chairman, seconded by Matt Cossalman. Approval was unanimous by all but Scott Fuller (absent).
Then, seeing that Caleb Davis had been Co-Chair and had been elected Chairman, Kim Peterson moved to make Wade Purdom Co-Chairman. This was seconded by Matt Cossalman, and again approval was unanimous by all but Scott Fuller (absent).
Before adjourning Davis asked Staff if there were any way that changes can be made to the ordinance without having a long drawn out process such as has taken place with the proposed changes scheduled for review next week (16-111). Staff responded by saying that the ordinance does not provide for a short-hand way of making updates but that with advice from council it might be possible to differentiate small from large changes. There being nothing further to discuss, Matt Cossalman moved to adjourn, Wade Purdom seconded, approved unanimously at 8:30PM.
John B. Moss
Recorder
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Caleb Davis - Chairman Date