Clagstone Meadows decision postponed

SANDPOINT - The largest planned planned unit development ever proposed in Bonner County is shaping up to be one of the most thoroughly considered projects the county has reviewed in the past 20 years.

County commissioners put off a decision Wednesday on the 1,200-unit Clagstone Meadows proposal so they have ample time to digest the voluminous written record.

"There's a lot of information I'm going to want to wade through before I make a decision," Commissioner Lewis Rich said at the outset of board deliberations on the 12,000-acre resort community plan.

The commission is scheduled to resume deliberation of Clagstone Meadows at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 17.

Between a site visit and a subsequent public hearing which spanned two days, commissioners have devoted about 16 hours of review. The Planning and Zoning Commission put in about 27 hours of review before recommending approval of the project in August.

Aside from land use code reforms and comprehensive plan updates, no other land use proposal has garnered as much public review as Clagstone Meadows in more than 20 years, according to Planning Director Clare Marley.

But the protracted public review process is still unable to allay the unease of neighboring landowners who are concerned the project will impact their water resources, local roads and diminish wildlife habitat.