SANDPOINT — The Bonner County Planning & Zoning Commission stopped short Thursday of implementing a series of land use code amendments designed to ease the regulatory burden on landowners.

The eight proposed code amendments were greeted with a blend of support, opposition, suspicion and befuddlement during a standing-room-only public hearing.

The changes included administrative adjudication of minor setback variance requests and property divisions of over 20 acres, expanding agricultural uses in industrial zones and granting certificate of compliance to parcels which don’t meet lot size standards.

The code amendments are meant to make it easier for landowners to develop their property and to keep people’s hopes and dreams from being dashed on the rockbound shores of bureaucracy, according to Planning Director Milton Ollerton.

“We try to solve problems. We try to provide solutions,” Ollterton said.

Ollerton argued that a 2008 zoning map update was geared to slow development growth and ended up creating thousands of substandard parcels, particularly in the Sagle area. The code changes would also increase administrative exceptions for setback variances from 1 foot to 10 percent and variances from subdivision lot size standards from 2 percent to 5 percent. Large parcel splits would also be dealt with administratively, although Ollerton said a public hearing would be called if a neighboring landowner took issue with the division.

But the proposed changes were met with opposition from those who don’t want to see land use standards relaxed for the sake of water quality and sensible development. Sagle resident Carol Jenkins said the administrative exception on waterfront setbacks would roll the standard back from 40 feet to 36 feet.

“I don’t think we want to start down that slippery slope,” she said.

Others said granting amnesty to landowners who shirked the rules in dividing their land penalized landowners who observed the land use code.

“Amnesty is unfair to people who followed the rules,” said Steve Lockwood.

The amendments were also regarded with suspicion from those who viewed them as a way to surreptitiously insert subdivisions into rural areas or as an increase in land use regulation in Bonner County.

Yet more argued to leave the code alone, while others appreciated the county’s effort to tease out strands of unnecessary red tape.

“We support what you’re attempting to do here,” said a Vay landowner.

The most pointed critique of the code changes came from Marty Taylor, a certified land use planner and former director of the planning department. He disputed the notion that the 2008 update, which happened after Taylor had segued into the private sector, created substandard lots and said nonconforming — or grandfathered — parcels were being conflated with non-compliant — or illegal — parcels.

“They are light years apart. They are not to be confused,” Taylor said, adding that the code changes would effectively dismiss 27 years of lot-size minimums and 13 years of subdivision standards.

The number of code changes also gave members of the public pause, which planning commissioners picked up on.

“There’s a repeated theme here,” said Commissioner Suzanne Glasoe, who suggested chunking the code changes they can be evaluated more thoroughly.

Commissioner Kris Sabo moved to forward a land use table to county commissioners for approval and to continue public review of the code changes.

Ollerton said the planning commission is scheduled to resume discussion on the code changes next month, although not hearings or workshops have been set yet.