Hearing postponed on controversial resort proposal
SANDPOINT - Public hearings to consider a proposal to develop a 12,442-acre resort community north of Kelso Lake have been canceled so the developer can provide further information about the project.
The Bonner County Planning & Zoning Commission was slated to consider the 1,200-unit development on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Clagstone Meadows LLC asked for the hearings to be postponed after the Planning Department recommended the application be remanded back to the developers because of insufficient information on certain elements of the project.
Planning Director Clare Marley said the hearings could be rescheduled for July or later, depending on the turnaround time for the additional information.
The insufficient information involved impacts to water resources and wildlife, in addition to fire protection.
Marley said the majority of the project is not within a fire protection district, although parts of it are in several fire districts. However, none of those districts have explicitly indicated they would be willing to annex the bulk of the development.
The development also straddles the Pend Oreille River and Rathdrum Prairie aquifers, but there was scant information on impacts to those resources or how much water was needed to serve Clagstone Meadows, Marley said.
The Planning Department is also asking the developers to provide wildlife mitigation plans, an assessment of current wildlife populations and existing wildlife corridors, and proposed riparian buffers and protection zones. The department also seeks a delineation of the estimated 122 acres of wetlands.
"You have raised some valid points in your Staff Report and we want the opportunity to address your concerns to the best of our ability," Frank Torresy of Clagstone Meadows LLC said in a May 27 letter asking the county to put off the hearings.
The project lies on land that was owned by Stimson Lumber Co. and transferred to Clagstone Meadows LLC, a company based out of Portland, Ore. It encompasses 27 square-mile sections of land.
The $1.2 billion project would be located about two miles west of U.S. Highway 95. It would have 4,954 acres of open space and 5,728 acres of productive timberland.
Clagstone Meadow's developers are proposing 785 custom homes, 190 cottages, 100 four-plex condominiums, 95 recreational vehicle stalls and 30 fractional share cabins. Two private 18-hole golf courses and a host of other recreational amenities are also being proposed.
A detailed traffic analysis indicates the project would eventually generate 7,990 daily trips at full build-out and 810 weekday p.m. peak hour trips.
• A staff report on the project can be found on the Planning Department's section of the county website (www.co.bonner.id.us).