Asphalt plant may move Coeur d'Alene Paving seeks zone change

COEUR d'ALENE - A much contested asphalt batch plant on Highway 53 might be uprooting.

Coeur d'Alene Paving is seeking a permit and zone change that would allow the company to relocate its two-year-old plant to the state line.

The Kootenai County commissioners encouraged the company last year to find a more suitable location, explained co-owner Todd Kaufman, on account of years of protests against the plant's operation by a residential area.

"I don't know if it will happen, but the county told (our company) to pursue another option," Kaufman said. "We're just looking for another home."

The paving company is seeking a special notice permit through the county to operate its batch plant on a 116-acre parcel on the Washington/Idaho border, just behind Stateline Speedway.

The business is also requesting that the acreage, located at 3405 North Beck Road, be rezoned from agriculture to mining to allow for the operation.

The property is currently owned by Beck Family Trust. Coeur d'Alene Paving has arranged a purchase agreement where the company will buy the property if the permit and rezoning are approved.

"All the planets are going to have to align," Kaufman said.

The company has been long searching for an alternative site, he said, as the county commissioners instructed after granting a permit last year for the plant to operate permanently on Highway 53.

Many of the plant's neighbors have complained about fumes and impacts on their property values, and the commissioners agreed it would be best for the facility to find a better spot, if possible.

"We've been working with Realtors," Kaufman said.

Moving is also crucial to preserving his company, he added.

Because of the nearby residential area, the plant is only permitted to operate under limited hours on weekdays and Saturdays, and is forbidden from night work.

"It limits on what we can bid, what we can work," Kaufman said, adding that competing companies don't have any hourly restrictions. "It's pretty bad. We're only a nine-month of the year business, anyway."

Individuals who have protested against the batch plant either didn't respond to messages on Wednesday, or declined to comment before knowing more about the situation.

The property behind the speedway is a better fit for the plant, Kaufman said, pointing out that it is across the street from another asphalt plant.

"There's not a whole bunch of houses and neighbors," he said.

The plant has been operating at 2493 West Highway 53 since May, 2009.

Although Coeur d'Alene Paving has a purchase agreement for the 50 acres the plant sits on now, the company doesn't own the property, due to ongoing litigation. Neighbors of the plant had appealed a rezone to mining on 20 acres of the property, which has prevented the company from buying the land, Kaufman said.

The neighbors have also appealed the permit for the batch plant's operation.

Kaufman didn't know what his company would do with the Highway 53 property if the batch plant moves.

"It's too early to tell," he said. "Maybe just pour gravel."

Even if the rezone and permit are approved, Kaufman added, the move wouldn't happen for about two years.

The Beck Road acreage, currently farm field, needs to be developed for an asphalt operation, which includes stripping the land, removing top soil and installing utilities.

"It's expensive," Kaufman acknowledged. "But it would put you in a situation to bid the work. Right now I can't work."

The county examiner will hold a public hearing on the proposed zone change at 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 2 in Meeting Room 1 of the county Administration Building.

A hearing for the special notice permit has not been scheduled.