SANDPOINT — After a court remand forced Bonner County commissioners to reconsider a conditional use permit for a wedding venue in Cocolalla, commissioners unanimously denied the file after determining that noise and light pollution would adversely impact neighboring properties.   

Commissioners decided at an Aug. 26 land use hearing that the proposed private community facility was not compliant with the Bonner County Revised Code, most notably due to the facility’s projected noise and light.  

Although conditions could have been placed on the file to mitigate sound and light pollution affecting neighboring properties, commissioners agreed they would be unable to impose sufficient conditions to prevent noise and light disturbance, except by completely changing the application to an indoor event facility. 

Commissioner Ron Korn noted that an original condition of approval required all noise to be at a 50-decibel limit but said that limit wasn’t realistic given the proposed use of the property.  

“It’s not going to be able to [be] held at 50 decibels as the condition of approval was. It’s realistically going to be 90 decibels or so,” Korn said.  

Mitigation of sound was the main concern amongst commissioners, but other scrutiny was found in the proposed use of the facility regarding neighboring rural residential properties. Commissioner Asia Williams said the proposed use would fit in the applicant’s property but didn’t match the rural neighborhood’s characteristics. Because of that, commissioners felt that if the file was approved, it would have a negative impact on the surrounding property owners’ rights. 

The permit in question would be used for a private community event facility in Cocolalla. In a narrative statement submitted to the board, applicants of the file had originally hosted Firebrand LLC wedding venue at the property, where individuals could get married in a “secluded and private setting.”  

The county’s hearing examiner originally recommended the file for approval at an October 2023 hearing, where it was again approved in February 2024 by the county’s zoning commission. Following the unanimous approval in February, an appeal was filed by Robert and Michelle Johnson.  

Once appealed, the 2024 Bonner County Board of County Commissioners upheld the zoning commission’s decision and affirmed the decision again in June 2024 to address deficiencies regarding the proposed retreat use of the facility.   

The decision was then appealed at the judicial level, where the court remanded the file back to Bonner County after finding the decision was not in compliance with Idaho Code 67-6535. Code states that any approval or denial of an application must be accompanied by a reason statement explaining the decision. In its remand, the District Court officials ruled that the facility's retreat use had been withdrawn and should not be considered.