SANDPOINT — The Bonner County commissioners have approved the elimination of Sandpoint’s area of impact.

The Nov. 20 decision comes after both the Sandpoint City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously voted to recommend the elimination of the city’s AOI. Bonner County Commissioner Ron Korn said he didn’t see any reason to reject Sandpoint’s proposal to eliminate the AOI. 

Areas of impact are land claimed by a city outside its own limits, which the city can plan to annex and zone for future expansion. It does not extend the city’s jurisdiction but allows it to provide comments on developments that could impact the city. 

Planning and Community Development Director Jason Welker said at the City Council’s Aug. 6 meeting that changes in Idaho Code promoted the move. The changes made last year included a caveat that land included in areas of impact must be planned to be annexed by the city within the next five years, which Welker described as a “death sentence” for the AOI. 

"Are we very likely to annex any of these properties within the next five years? The answer really is no,” Welker said Aug. 6. “We couldn’t honestly look at the [Bonner County] commissioners and say, ‘We are very likely to annex these properties.’”  

Welker said annexation is typically initiated by property owners, not the city. The elimination of the AOI does not rule out future annexation, but the property owners would need to request to join Sandpoint’s city limits. 

City staff attempted to bring a proposed AOI to the Bonner County commissioners in June, which would have seen it be reduced by 70%. During that meeting, the commissioners cited the annexation statute as its primary reason for denial. 

"The board has been really intent on looking at what the Legislature intended with regard to the likelihood something very likely to occur within five years based on known plans, infrastructure capabilities and things of that nature,” Commissioner Brian Domke said.  

Sandpoint is required to update its AOI every five years, but Welker said they can reinitiate discussions anytime if there was a need or want to annex land. If a property owner does wish to join Sandpoint, they would need to be added to the AOI to begin the process.  

“We think it's in our best interest to accept that for this cycle and then see where things are for the next cycle when this gets brought up again,” Domke said. 

At the Aug. 6 meeting, Welker said the feedback the city has received from residents in Sandpoint’s former AOI was overly positive about the elimination. 

“We haven’t seen any desire from any current residents of that proposed AOI to remain in or be in an AOI,” Welker said. “The elimination has general support from the residents of that area.”