Ledges wins board approval

SANDPOINT — Bonner County commissioners approved a contested hillside development at Morton Slough on a 2-1 vote on Wednesday.

But the fate of the Ledges Over Pend Oreille housing development is anything but carved in stone.

Although the county has signed off on the 33-lot planned unit development, the Sagle Fire District has pledged to subject the project to the International Fire Code, which is not part of Bonner County’s regulatory process.

However, the International Fire Code has been adopted by the state and is applicable in all of its counties.

Scott Bauer, the commission’s legal counsel, advised the board it could invoke the fire code through conditions of approval or leave it up to the Sagle Fire District, which is empowered to enforce the code.

“The board of county commissioners has discretion to apply the fire code,” Bauer said.

Commissioners, who are under increasing pressure from fire chiefs in the county to implement the code, opted to leave the implementation question up to Sagle Fire. The district’s chief, Rob Goodyear, told commissioners last month he would enforce the code on the Ledges project in order to better protect residents.

Sagle Fire had consented to the project’s singular access point and variances to road grade standards in exchange for a fire-mitigation plan, which required upland homes to be fitted with sprinklers and constructed of flame-resistant materials. Developer Rich Curtis also agreed to install 10,000-gallon water tanks and establish “safe zones” for people to congregate in the event of a fire.

But the district reversed its position after an Idaho Attorney General opinion concluded fire districts have the right to administer the fire code since it’s observed by the state.

Sagle Fire maintains the one-way in/one-way out access and mid-slope road on a the forested hillside would not meet the International Fire Code requirements.

It’s expected the project could move ahead without regard to the IFC, but Sagle Fire could impose a stop-work order until the standards are met. If Sagle Fire opted not to enforce the code, opponents of the project could sue the district to force IFC compliance.

Commission Chairman Lewie Rich predicted the project would wind up in district court regardless of how the board voted.

“If we vote yes or no we’re going to get sued. It’s going to happen,” he said.

A determined group of project foes contend the development will have a disastrous effect on wildlife habitat and the rural ambiance at the slough, in addition to putting its residents in harm’s way.

But Rich and Commissioner Joe Young ruled that the project was well within Bonner County Revised Code, which left them with little option but to approve it.

“I cannot, myself, see enough evidence at this point in time to deny this file,” said Young, who felt the Ledges plan was not unlike a number of other developments in rural areas, but unique in the amount of conditions addressing fire safety and environmental issues.

Commissioner Todd Crossett appreciated the conditions, but said they fell short of snuffing the fire-safety question. A fire could quickly and easily march up the steep hillside and added that the “safe zones” are geared more for trained firefighters than civilians seeking refuge, he said.

“The combination of all those factors, in my mind, create an environment that’s unacceptably hazardous,” Crossett said.