BoCo Comp Plan updates due for adoption Sept. 20

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey
Reader Staff

The Bonner County Planning Commission continues to rework the county’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan, starting with the “Goals, Objectives and Policies,” which serves as a jumping-off point for the various facets of the extensive guiding document.

Last updated in 2005, the Comp Plan is used to inform land use decisions with policies surrounding natural resources, housing, property rights, transportation and more. Earlier this year, Bonner County split its Planning and Zoning Commission into two separate entities in an effort to expedite a Comp Plan update, which the Planning Commission has been working on throughout the spring and summer. August saw several workshops specifically on the goals and objectives of the Comp Plan, which will set the stage for more fine-tuned revisions to the broader document.

While the Planning Commission was slated to adopt the goals and objectives during a hearing on Aug. 30, commissioners elected to continue the hearing to Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 4:30 p.m. Planner Swati Rastogi told the Reader that the commission “is likely to make a recommendation” on the goals during that Sept. 20 hearing, which will then go to the board of county commissioners.

The most current version of the revised goals and objectives document — as well as previous versions — is available for review online at bonnercountyid.gov/FileAM0012-22. It can also be accessed by going to bonnercountyid.gov, hovering over “Departments,” clicking “Planning,” selecting “Current Projects” from the left-hand menu and finding “File AM0012-22 – Bonner County Planning Commission” under “Amendment.” 

The file’s webpage also features links to written comments from agencies and the public, as well as the staff report.

According to the Sept. 20 agenda, the commission is no longer accepting public comments on the “Goals, Objectives and Policies.”

The Planning Commission is also going to begin discussing individual components of the Comp Plan — including natural resources, school facilities and transportation — at the Sept. 20 hearing. That hearing will take place in the first floor conference room of the Bonner County Administration Building, located at 1500 Highway 2 in Sandpoint. All hearings are live-streamed on the Bonner County Planning YouTube channel.

The Bonner County Planning Department can be contacted at 208-265-1458.