Hoodoo Valley rezone decision postponed

By Lyndsie Kiebert
Reader Staff

Members of the Bonner County Board of Commissioners opened a public hearing April 14 with an announcement: They wouldn’t be making a decision on the application for rezone on a 160-acre parcel in the Hoodoo Valley — a file that has drawn vocal opposition from neighbors who believe changing the property from agricultural/forestry to a rural residential designation will pave the way for a dense housing development.

“We just received new information from the applicant that changed the application a bit,” said Board Chair Dan McDonald during the opening of the meeting. “To properly handle due process and make sure you guys all get to see that for a couple of weeks in advance, we are going to push back that hearing.”

McDonald said the commissioners will now take up the file on Wednesday, April 28. 

The board heard from planning staff regarding the proposed zone change in March, after the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended denial of the application in February. At the time, county commissioners recommended that the file — which includes an amendment to Bonner County revised code and subsequent zone change — remain under review.

“This will allow you folks to get access to the information so that if you want to come in and make an argument based on that, it will give you time to do so,” McDonald said, noting that the changes would be published on the county’s website.

He prompted those attending the hearing solely to hear the board’s decision on the Hoodoo Valley property — owned by Hayden-based Daum Construction — to leave if they’d like before the commissioners took up other business. 

Several meeting attendees expressed their frustration at having driven to the Bonner County Administration Building only to find out the file wouldn’t be addressed. McDonald reiterated that the county was following Idaho law by giving citizens a chance to review information before it is considered part of the proposed zone change.

“We want to get this thing put to rest as well,” he said.