SANDPOINT — In a land use hearing held Wednesday, Bonner County officials denied two separate requests to rezone properties from Rural 10 to Rural 5, citing noncompliance with zoning criteria.  

Both files were denied in a 2-1 vote, with Commissioners Brian Domke and Asia Williams voting in favor of denial and Ron Korn in opposition.  

The first property, a 10-acre parcel located off Hidden Valley Road in Sandpoint, was ultimately denied for having prime agriculture soil and slopes on the property greater than 30% — two characteristics found under Rural 10 but not Rural 5.  

Domke and Williams agreed on their reasons for denial, stating that the change of rural zone conflicts with Bonner County Revised Code, which indicates that rural zones are supposed to “support development that protects sensitive environmental features and reduces infrastructure costs.” 

Domke related the code passage to the property’s slopes, which exceed 30% due to a stream cutting through the property. He further acknowledged that the stream would have to be crossed to access the lower portion of the property, creating impacts to the stream’s environment, ultimately conflicting with BCRC’s protection of sensitive environmental features.  

Korn opposed the decision, stating that the zone change shouldn’t be denied due to “what our individual thoughts are on intermittent stream, or environmental impacts” because they had no knowledge of how the landowners would build on the property.  

“We have no idea how they’re (landowners) going to mitigate that intermittent stream,” said Korn. “That would come into play at the time the BLP (building location permit) is applied for.” 

He further acknowledged that the prime agriculture soil was only 20% of the property, and the map used to determine the soil type on property was known to show inaccuracies.  

Nonetheless, both Domke and Williams shared their support in denial of the file after noting that the characteristics of the property — prime agriculture soil and slopes greater than 30% — were not listed under Rural 5 zoning.  

Similar to the first file, the second file was denied due to prime agriculture soil being on the property.  

The second property discussed, a 10-acre parcel located off Doris Lane in Oldtown, was denied for the similar presence of prime soil.  

The parcel remains zoned as Rural 10 after Williams noted that a Rural-5 zone does not have prime agriculture soil listed as criteria for compliance, suggesting that the parcel in question would not fit in the requested zone.  

Both properties will remain zoned as Rural 10.

    File ZC0006-25 off Doris Lane