Quail Ridge neighborhood further subdivides

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Neighbors and county officials clashed over the future of the Quail Ridge neighborhood during a planning hearing before Bonner County commissioners Wednesday.

At the heart of the contention are concerns over paving and subdividing in Quail Ridge. A proposed subdivision would allow larger plots of land to be further subdivided into smaller ones, providing opportunity for more people to build on, and move into, the neighborhood.

The proposed subdivision, which was presented to Bonner County commissioners on Wednesday, would subdivide and rezone three 20-acre Ag/Forestry lands, to 5-acre Rural-Residential plots.

Those against the changes felt that the project was unorganized, and said they were concerned approving the subdivision would set the stage for even smaller plots in the future.

“There is potential for another 25 lots in there if everyone starts subdividing.” said Steve Roach, one of six neighbors who spoke against zoning change.

Not all neighbors were against the plan. Two neighbors spoke in favor of the zoning change, saying they welcomed the plot divisions because they felt it didn't change the character of the neighborhood.

“In our experience, it usually ends up as all 5-acre lots,” said Bonner County Commissioner Dan McDonald.”We see a lot of that.”

Even though the agenda was to discuss the proposed zoning change, some neighbors also expressed concern over the potential changes to the subdivision’s roads.

The front portion of Quail Ridge already has houses on 5 acre lots. Those sections of road are already paved because that section sees more traffic.

Because it reduces dust and other driving hazards, Bonner County recommends hard surfacing for roads that see over 200 trips per day. Hard surfacing doesn't always mean pavement, it was understood during the hearing that commissioners and residents were discussing the matter of paving roads, instead of the broader term of hard surfacing.

Dirt roads in the subdivision may be seeing pavement in the future. Since Quail Ridge is a part of a homeowners association, homeowners or the HOA would need to pay for the improvements to the roads.

Neighbors against the expansion expressed concern over increased traffic. The dirt roads are nearing that 200 trip threshold. Increased density would create extra traffic and cause a greater need to pave the roads.

“This smells, that’s all I’m saying,” said neighbor Phil Grosswiler.

When original plans for the Quail Ridge subdivision were approved, the neighborhood was all 5-acre lots. However after the 2008 recession, the subdivision’s owner expanded the sites into 20-acre lots.

"It's a hodgepodge," said Kevin Sevinski, a resident of Quail Ridge, "if we paved all of it, we wouldn't be here today."

Commissioner Jeff Connolly echoed Sevinski’s statements. “This seems very piecemeal to me,” he said in regards to paving parts of Quail Ridge, instead of the entire subdivision.

After deliberating the commission approved rezoning the parcels into 5-acre Rural-Residential plots. However commissioners declined to make a recommendation to hard surface the dirt roads within Quail Ridge.

"We can see what may happen," said Commissioner Dan McDonald before adjourning the hearing, "but we have to deal with what exists."