County opposes road bisecting fairgrounds

SANDPOINT — Bonner County officials plan to appeal to the city to withdraw a condition requiring an easement for a city street through the fairgrounds.

The City Council voted earlier this year to require the dedication of a 60-foot right of way to connect North Boyer and Samuelson avenues. The condition was imposed earlier this year when the city approved the development of a new juvenile detention facility at the sheriff’s office complex off North Boyer.

City road access standards prohibit block lengths from exceeding 600 feet. Putting the route on the south side of the complex would essentially meet that standard. A northerly alignment would lengthen the block to about 1,300 feet.

However, the county was given the option of dedicating public right of way on the north or south side of the complex. County commissioners urged the city to waive the right of way requirement entirely, but the council insisted.

“We are not interested in putting a road there, but we didn’t have a choice,” Commissioner Mike Nielsen told the fair board on Monday.

Putting the route on the south side of the complex drew objections from Sheriff Daryl Wheeler because it would be too close to the jail and juvenile lockup. Moving it north, meanwhile, would put it close to Bonner Dispatch and eat into ground the fair relies on for parking and other uses.

“We have a genuine concern about this,” said Gail Curless, vice chair of the fair board.

Fair board Chairman Tim Cary sent a letter to Idaho’s federal delegation, Gov. Butch Otter, Panhandle legislators, officials from each of the incorporated cities in Bonner County, 4-H officials, the Farm Bureau and ranching groups raising concerns about the road.

“If this street takes place it will remove 70 feet off the grounds — effectively destroying the grounds,” Cary said in the March 28 letter.

In addition to the annual fair, the fairground hosts annual Draft Horse Show, Lost in the 50s, the rodeo, the Bonner County Sportsmen’s Association Gun & Horn Show, Grad Nite, the Panhandle Building Contractors Home & Garden Show and numerous other events.

“We are busy all the time and it makes money for everyone around,” said Fair Manager Rhonda Livingstone.

Fair officials and patrons are deeply protective of the fairgrounds, a trait that has become more pronounced as the facility is increasingly hemmed in by adjacent development.

Nielsen said the road might not be required for quite some time, but the prediction did little to allay concerns.

“We do need to get out ahead of it,” said fair board member Roberta Knudsen.

Sandpoint Mayor Gretchen Hellar said the rationale for the requirement is to ensure good emergency access to growing residential development behind the fairgrounds.

“We don’t care where they put it, but its really up to the county commissioners to determine where it’s going to go,” she said.

It would be up to the city Planning & Zoning Commission and the council to reconsider a waiver on the right of way condition, Hellar added.