Sagle asphalt plant challenged

By Lyndsie Kiebert
Reader Staff

Concerned citizens have filed an appeal with the Bonner County Board of Commissioners challenging the county’s planning and zoning department’s approval of a conditional use permit for an asphalt batch plant in Sagle.

An aerial view of the location of the proposed batch plant. The red portion indicates the area where the conditional use permit would apply. Image courtesy of the Bonner County Planning and Zoning staff report on the proposed permit.

The appeal, filed Dec. 11, claims that P&Z’s approval of the permit cannot stand due to lack of evidence and violation of public policy. About 80 people signed the appeal, most listing their address as in Sagle near the site of the proposed asphalt plant.

Interstate Concrete and Asphalt, who will operate the plant just off Highway 95 in the Linscott gravel pit, uses materials from the pit and now wants to process those materials in the same location to avoid the extra miles it takes to move them to the company’s current plant in Sandpoint.

At the project’s initial hearing on Nov. 15, when the P&Z board approved the conditional use permit, opponents of the plant voiced concerns about health impacts, noise, property values and more.

A hearing for the appeal is set for Friday, Jan. 11, at 9 a.m. in the Bonner County Administration Building first floor conference room.