Alpine Cedar challenge under review

SANDPOINT — Attorneys polished off their respective argument Monday in a legal challenge of a conditional use permit for the expansion of a Selle Valley sawmill operation.

Visiting 2nd District Judge Jeff Brudie took the arguments under advisement and will issue a written ruling on Alpine Cedar’s conditional land use permit.

The permitting tug of war dates back to last year, when Alpine Cedar sought permit approval to expand its facilities along East Shingle Mill Road, but saw their production cut by 106 days a year, roughly 30 percent of the calendar year.

Alpine Cedar is the parent company of Wildwood Grilling, which is embracing the burgeoning market for grilling planks made of western red cedar, alder, sugar maple and other woods. Demand for the specialty planks is influencing the expansion plan, which could add up to 20 more employees.

The Bonner County Planning & Zoning Commission tightened hours of operation in recognition of complaints from neighboring landowners that noise and emissions from the sawmill, among other things, was spoiling the ambiance of the rural neighborhood.

Alpine Cedar appealed the hours of operation to the county commission, which ultimately loosened the hours of operation. A noise pollution study commissioned by Alpine Cedar held that noise emanating from the plant was well within the 70-decibel limit on the site’s property line, which factored into the county commission’s overrule of P&Z.

But counsel for landowners challenging the permit said they were not provided with the results of the study, which they maintain should have been conducted using Bonner County Sheriff’s Office decibel meters.

The landowners’ attorney, Will Herrington, asserted that Alpine Cedar wasn’t operating a noisy wood chipping machine when county commissioners conducted site visit in January, which caused the board to downplay the issue.

Herrington further argued that the mill’s septic waste plan was largely unaccounted for during the public review process, save for a mention that it had an adjacent parcel that could be used for a subsurface treatment system. Herrington added that the permit was procedurally flawed because a decision letter outlining the commission’s justification for relaxing hours of operation was never placed in the record and that neighboring landowners’ right to due process was violated because they were never notified of the appeal hearing.

“In the interest of fairness, the neighbors should have been notified,” said Herrington.

Herrington also told the court that fire and traffic safety concerns were given short shrift.

Counsel for Alpine Cedar, Megan O’Dowd, countered that the company put up empirical evidence to backstop its positions, while opponents had only anecdotal or theoretical arguments regarding noise and traffic impacts.

“You have to actually ties your concerns to something real,” said O’Dowd.

Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor William Wilson added that concerns over the septic treatment plan were never part of the original object to the permit and tacked on after the fact.

On rebuttal, Herrington countered that the litany of concerns by neighboring landowners is firmly established in the public record.

“There is a record of all these and other issues being raised,” said Herrington.