Work center plan draws objections
SANDPOINT — A proposed counseling center southeast of Clark Fork is facing significant opposition from neighboring landowners and adjacent residents.
The Bonner County Planning & Zoning Commission is conducting a public hearing on the planned North Idaho Work Academy on Thursday, Oct. 23. The hearing is set for 6 p.m. at Hope Elementary School.
Bruce Boudousquie is seeking a conditional-use permit to operate the facility on a 21-acre parcel owned by Billey and Rhetta Anderson. The parcel is located off Lone Cedar Lane, which is on the south side of the Clark Fork River near the Montana border.
The facility would be decidedly spartan, according to Bonner County Planning Department records. There will be five bunk houses, a common area, a vault toilet and a shower. The site will not have a land-line phone, electricity or pressurized water service.
The center’s purpose, according to a land-use application narrative, aims to help guests develop self-worth, confidence, work ethic and interpersonal skills. It will serve both families and individuals.
Participation in the program is strictly voluntary and those convicted of violent, sexual or drug-related felony charges will not be admitted. Minors will be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
“The center is not a drug/alcohol treatment facility; however, participants may have some issues related to drugs/alcohol,” the narrative said.
But the work academy’s admittance and operational guidelines are doing little to allay the concerns of neighbors.
The planning department has received more than 30 letters in opposition to the proposal. Opponents contend will the project will draw troubled people into their rural residential neighborhood.
They further contend that the site is not remote enough to safely insulate neighbors from runaways and the access road is too substandard to support increased traffic, which includes water deliveries and septic pump-out trucks.
Clark Fork Mayor Chris Riggins is also displeased with the proposal and is urging the planning commission to deny the permit.
“We do not want to see or have any of our residents (both in the city limits and in surrounding areas) harmed or afraid to live in their own homes,” Riggins said in an Aug. 29 letter to the department.
The proposal is also off-putting to Sheriff Chris Riggins.
“I am concerned that this proposed center is being located in the middle of a rural residential neighborhood. I suspect there will be an increase in calls for service in that neighborhood as a result of an increase of up to 24 persons on a single parcel located on the private road,” Wheeler said in an Aug. 26 email to the department.