The Bonner County Planning Department is hosting meetings in the Priest River and Priest Lake areas over the next few weeks to gather input on land use goals in the communities.

A meeitng is set for Monday, Oct. 29, for Priest River and Oldtown residents. The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. at the Priest River Senior Center, 336 Jackson St.

A meeting for Priest Lake will be held Wednesday, Nov. 7, at Priest Lake Elementary School, 27732 Highway 57. The meeting also begins at 6 p.m.

There will be workshops and small group discussions followed by a roundup of what was discussed as the county works to form a committee in each community to assist in writing an area comprehensive plan.

“The county is concerned with the potential impacts of current and trending growth pressures,” Planning Director Milton Ollerton said in a press release that posted to the department’s Facebook page and shared via social media. “This plan will aid the county in determining where and how growth should occur.”

It’s estimated that the both Priest River/Oldtown and the Priest Lake committees will each have nine members and three alternates. In each case, the committee will include a minimum of five property owners who live in the area, up to two renters who live in the area and up to two property owners who live outside the community. The commitees will meet monthly for up to 18 months to complete the sub area comp plan.

The county began the process of creating the sub area plans for specific communitys, beginning with Selle Valley and Sagle in January 2017.

At the time, Ollerton said the county decided to begin sounding out the public on land uses in specific areas of the county because specific areas are given as little as a paragraph of description in planning tools such as the comprehensive plan.

“Pretty soon you’ve diluted your maps. We don’t want that to happen,” said Ollerton at the time.

The format at past meetings involved workshops about the process and small group discussions, followed by an overall discussion of what was discussed in the smaller groups.

The purpose for creating a sub-area plan is to allow residents in specific areas to be more intimately involved in the growth specific to their area, according to county officials.

The process considers strengths of the area, weaknesses and concerns as well as a history of the area.

For more information, go online to bonnercountyid.gov, go to the planning department website and click on the sub-area plans link.

Information: email, [email protected]; or phone, 208-265-1458