Zoning hearing is today
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 13 years, 8 months AGO
The Kootenai County commissioners will hold a public hearing today over a Coeur d'Alene paving company's request to rezone 116 acres behind Stateline Speedway.
Coeur d'Alene Paving co-owner Todd Kaufman has said if the county approves the rezone from agriculture to mining, the company will likely relocate its portable asphalt batch plant there from its current Rathdrum location.
Neighbors of the plant's site off Highway 53 have long protested the operation because of concerns over fumes and noise.
The acreage is located north of Seltice Way, about a half mile west of Beck Road and just west of Stateline Speedway.
Some Post Falls residents have objected to the rezone, worried about another mining related operation near their homes.
But Eric Keck, Post Falls city administrator said the site is an ideal location "for a use that most residents hate."
The city supports the proposed use, he added.
"This area of Post Falls/County is largely mining and industrial uses which this use fits in with very well," Keck stated. "It will allow the asphalt plant to service our county and have access to new transportation infrastructure to allow the company to be successful with the Beck Road interchange."
The commissioners previously held a hearing on the request last August, and remanded the case back to the hearing examiner, with the condition that a conditional development zoning agreement be added to the proposal.
The county hearing examiner heard the request on Jan. 19, with the agreement included, and recommended the commissioners approve the project.
The commissioners' hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. today in Room 1 of the Kootenai County Administration Building, at 451 Government Way in Coeur d'Alene.