P&Z digging deeper into gravel pit plan

SANDPOINT — The Bonner County Planning & Zoning Commission is taking a deeper look at a controversial surface mine proposal at the Kootenai County line.

The commission voted unanimously late Tuesday to table a ruling on the gravel extraction project in order to conduct a site visit and obtain further information about soil stability, aquifer impacts and other details.

The decision to postpone followed two hours of public testimony and the entry of nearly 20 exhibits.

David Haman is seeking permit approval to excavate within a 110-acre envelope on a 160-acre parcel on the east side of U.S. Highway 95 off North Roberts Road. No blasting is proposed, although there will be a rock-crushing operation on the site.

The proposal has hit the mother lode of opposition. Forty four people testified and each one called on the board to reject the project for a comprehensive list of reasons.

Opponents, many of whom reside in Kootenai County, argued the project would mar the scenic landscape and flood their small neighborhoods with a host of negative impacts such as dust, noise and added truck traffic.

The project's representative, Steve Klatt, emphasized that Haman sought a development plan which addresses neighbors' concerns. The plan includes visual buffering, a stringent noise-control strategy and a plan for containing fugitive dust.

"It really is his intention to be a good neighbor," Klatt said during his opening remarks.

"If you really want to be a good neighbor you'll put this someplace else," East Forest View Road resident J.M. Kelley pointedly countered when it was the public's turn to weigh in.

Foes accused the project of being needlessly redundant because there's already a gravel pit on Granite Hill and contend the 20-80 truckloads a day would jeopardize the safety of children who play and catch school buses in the neighborhood.

Klatt said that the developer will work with the Lakeland School and Lakes Highway districts to provide an improved bus stop. A condition of approval also requires Idaho Transportation Department-sanctioned acceleration and deceleration lanes to be installed on U.S. 95.

Bruce Cyr, an extraction consultant for the developer, said sonar-activated reverse alarms would be installed on trucks to limit noise and added that the project would be no more of a noise disturbance than the nearby highway or railroad tracks.

"They're not going to hear it as much as they think they are," Cyr said of the operation.

But foes were not convinced the impact mitigation plans would be effective, and expressed concern that the project's demand for water would affect their well production and mine operations would pose a threat to the underlying aquifer. Other concerns included harm to wildlife habitat and property values.

East Lowland Drive resident Jan Lenning said she and members of her family have respiratory conditions which would be aggravated by the dust coming from the site.

"It's going to drop on me every day," Lenning said. "I could move, but who's going to buy my house?"

Planning commissioners opted to put off a decision so they could gather more detailed information about soil stability at the site, potential well and aquifer impacts, and assurances from TransCanada that the project won't affect its adjacent pipeline.

Commission Chairman Wayne Benner suggested the board conduct a site visit before rendering a decision. Commissioner Margaret Hall also requested information on zoning and densities across the border in Kootenai County.

"I'd like to see what we're backing up against," she said.