Trestle Creek project extended for two years

SANDPOINT — A contentious development project located at the mouth of Trestle Creek received a two-year extension at Tuesday’s Bonner County commissioners’ business meeting.

Valiant Idaho, LLC/Valiant Idaho II, LLC requested a four-year extension of its conditional use permit for the project from the board at the Nov. 19 business meeting. Project representative Jeremy Grimm said several modifications to the project would be presented to the board for approval in the near future.

Bonner County Planning Department Director Jake Gabell said the project’s current permit was approved in January 2021 and is set to expire Jan. 15, 2025. Commissioner Ron Korn questioned why the project needed a time extension after four years.

Grimm claims in the time extension application that third parties are responsible for delays the project has faced. Whether this was in reference to litigation the project has faced from third parties or slow turnaround from agencies the project needs permits from is unclear.

Grimm said there is a web of external agencies involved in the project, and he has no control over those agency’s timelines. According to Grimm, he is working to finalize the project and received approval from the Idaho Department of Lands for the proposed commercial marina Nov. 18.

“These things don’t happen quickly and based on our response from IDL (Idaho Department of Lands) just yesterday afternoon to approve the dock, we need a little more time to get this through the ringer.”

The project has gone through multiple iterations over the past four years and has faced consistent, strong opposition from community members and environmental groups who expressed the feeling that the development would cater to a wealthy subset of part-time residents to the detriment of environmental quality.

The most recent iteration of the project includes plans to construct an 88-boat commercial marina in the area, install a breakwater, dredge on the lake, implement erosion control infrastructure, and reroute a section of the creek.

One of the biggest sticking points has been the project's potential impact on the protected bull trout population that spawn in Trestle Creek. Community members and environmental groups have expressed concern for years that the project would make the creek unsuited for the bull trout, which are designated as “threatened” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“In the last eight of nine years the migrating bull trout have not reached their 10-year migrating average. This is a huge red flag showing that the bull trout are struggling,” said Don Holland, a 50-year resident of Bonner County, during Tuesday’s meeting. “This development’s marina plans continue to be ill-suited for this particular location because they create a much greater risk (to bull trout) than is warranted. We need to reduce the risk factors for the bull trout, not increase them.”

Jennifer Ekstrom, speaking on behalf of the Idaho Conservation League during public comment, said that the community has shown over the past several years that it is resoundingly opposed to this project.

“It’s not very easy to activate great segments of our community to come to meetings and to write letters and speak up,” Ekstrom said. “But, on the last two iterations of this proposal, more than 2,000 comments have been submitted to the state government, to the governor's office and to the Army Corps of Engineers, expressing opposition.”

Grimm said that the public process has provided good feedback for the project. He said it has resulted in a reduction in the overall scale of the marina, a donation of six acres of land to preserve the mouth of Trestle Creek in perpetuity, and the decision to not remove the islands over which many community members expressed concern.

“Despite all the accusations and mis-founded (sic) facts that have been presented,” Grimm said, “Idaho Department of Lands ... found that, in fact, Idaho Fish and Wildlife does not recommend denial of this project.”

Korn motioned to allow an extension for the project but only for two years rather than the four requested.

Williams expressed concern that the project has changed so much over time that it is no longer the same project that was approved for a conditional use permit in 2021. She argued that the board should deny the extension and the project should come back before the board with an updated, renewed request for a conditional use permit.

Williams was outvoted on the issue, with Korn and Commissioner Steve Bradshaw voting to approve the two-year extension.