City reaches agreement on planning issues

SANDPOINT — The City Council reached middle ground Wednesday on a number of controversial zoning proposals, including one that would have banished drive-through businesses to the city’s industrial areas.

The council voted to heed the advice of its Planning Commission, which last month recommended making drive-throughs submit to a conditional use permit, rather than an outright ban.

The ordinance passed its first reading 3-2, but the changes will not become law until the second and third readings are passed, which the council hopes to do by next week. Council members John Reuter, Carrie Logan and Stephen Snedden voted in favor of the changes, with council members Michael Boge and Helen Newton dissenting. Councilman Doug Hawkins was absent.

The change means business owners looking to build a drive-through will need approval from the Planning Commission, which mirrors the current laws regulating the Fifth Avenue Overlay District.

Before voting, the council listened to testimony from two local real estate agents, both of whom implored the city to abandon the restrictions.

“These proposed ordinances do not flow directly from the comprehensive plan,” Raphael Barta said. “The comprehensive plan was not supposed to be a Trojan horse for highly restrictive regulations that are, in effect, a building moratorium.”

The council also altered or did away with a number of proposed site plan standards for buildings with a footprint larger than 20,000 square feet. Among other things, the original proposal would have required “exterior building materials and colors that are aesthetically pleasing … ,” including “the use of high-quality materials and colors that are low reflective, subtle, neutral, or earth tone.”

Several council members, including Boge, voiced concern about becoming the “color police” for new businesses.

“I find this very, very subjective,” Boge said. “What really is ‘aesthetically pleasing’? Councilman Reuter, when you come to council sometimes I don’t necessarily care for the way you’re dressed. But, you know what? That’s OK.”

The council voted unanimously to strike most mentions of aesthetics and building materials, but added wording that encourages builders to use “natural materials” during construction.

According to City Planner Jeremy Grimm and Mayor Gretchen Hellar, all of the proposals were meant to be temporary solutions until the city’s planning department could draft permanent zones based on the newly-passed comprehensive plan. Examining the ordinance, Newton said she saw nothing indicating the changes were temporary.

“I don’t understand how you see this as an interim ordinance, there’s no sunset clause in here,” Newton said. “I don’t see that it’s interim at all.”

She later added an amendment, which was unanimously passed, calling for the entire ordinance to expire no later than Dec. 31, 2009.

Grimm said he would begin working on a permanent zone and could likely have it before council in four to six months.