Appeals code change facing legal challenge
SANDPOINT — The former chair of the Bonner County Planning & Zoning Commission is suing the county in a bid to nullify land use code changes implemented last month.
Counsel for Steven Temple contends ordinances which eased the process of appealing a land use decisions were unlawfully adopted by the board of county commissioners.
A complaint for judicial declaration was filed in 1st District Court on Monday, court records show.
The complaint seeks a judicial determination that county commissioners improperly enacted the ordinances and a preliminary injunction to halt their implementation.
The litigation stems from the county commission's adoption of ordinances which essentially eliminated county land use code requirements that findings be made in order for the county commission to hear an appeal. Those grounds included findings that a P&Z decision exceeded its statutory authority, was not supported by evidence in the public record or acted capriciously.
The county commission-driven code change drew explicit opposition from residents and conservation groups who are concerned that the effort to better serve individual landowners come at the expense of the general public through improper development that could end up costing taxpayers in the long run. Opponents further contended that the code change undermined the institutional knowledge of the Planning Department and the accumulated wisdom of P&Z, a volunteer panel tasked checking land use proposals against the comprehensive plan, in addition to state and local planning codes.
County commissioners insisted that they would still factor in P&Z recommendations and that there would be no shortcuts around environmental regulations.
The planning commission took up the proposed code changes earlier this year, but remanded them back to the planning department for further review. Commissioners advanced the matter despite lacking a P&Z recommendation, which Temple's attorney, Will Herrington, said violates local codes and the state's Local Land Use Planning Act.
“The Bonner County board commissioners acted without a recommendation from the planning commission,” Herrington said in the complaint.
The county, however, maintains that it is within its right to advance the issue and the code changes would align local land use codes with state code.
Temple resigned his chairmanship of P&Z amid the contested code change and filed suit as a member of the public who stands to be impacted by them, according to court documents.
Herrington argues in the civil action that the code changes were adopted without proper notice to the public and in one instance commissioners failed to conduct a required public hearing as required by Bonner County Revised Code.