Decision day arrives for Maritime bay request

By JENNIFER PASSARO

Staff Writer

Postponed action for a controversial zone change request along narrow and scenic Highway 97 on the eastern shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene will resume today.

Kootenai County commissioners will decide whether to grant the John and Gaila Condon Living Trust a half-acre portion commercial zone on their nearly 108-acre restricted residential zoned property. Commercial designation would edge John Condon closer to being able to operate a portion of his business, North Idaho Maritime, in Wolf Lodge Bay.

During the Dec. 11 hearing, the room was at capacity with 175 people in attendance. The fire marshal had to turn members of the public away.

Sixty-one comment sheets were submitted at the hearing, with four from the applicant, 25 in favor of the rezoning, four neutral, and 28 opposed.

Today’s continued hearing will be divided into two sessions to better accommodate the public: 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. at 451 Government Way. Individuals who spoke at the initial hearing will be able to extend their comments.

“We want to afford opportunity for people who didn’t feel that they had enough time to speak,” Kootenai County Commissioner Chris Fillios said. “We’re going to make an allowance on Thursday: individuals will have 5 minutes instead of 3, groups will have 15 minutes instead of 10, and the applicant will have 30 minutes instead of 20.”

The county has received over 210 letters of public comment.

Citing concerns for kokanee spawning grounds, traffic safety on Highway 97, and congestion in proposed commercial vehicle turnaround sites, opponents urged commissioners to deny a zone change request for North Idaho Maritime, which seeks to build a bulkhead and commercial dock to load barges for work on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Proponents argued the nearly century-old firm has proven itself as a steward to the environment that simply cannot find another suitable location to load and unload equipment and supplies for its work.

While primarily a maritime services business, conducting dock building and repair, North Idaho Maritime has a history of providing restoration work throughout Lake Coeur d’Alene, the Coeur d’Alene River, and the St. Joe River.

“On the St. Joe River we removed 32,000 yards of creosote-contaminated soil from a pole yard treating facility,” Condon said. “There were numerous parties working on that site, not just us, but we were very much a part of it. We’re the ones that respond to clean up. We clean up the lake; we don’t contaminate it.”

Condon also said opponents are wrong to criticize the company for cruelty to kokanee.

“We were the main contractors that dumped 15,000 yards of kokanee bedding gravels in Pend Oreille Lake at Farragut towards Button Hook Bay,” Condon said. “We are very much environmentalists. The only difference is we don’t talk about it, we do it.”

The company has moored at Blackwell Island since 1918, according to Condon. Several tugboats and work boats are moored in Hagadone Marina, but pressure to accommodate pleasure crafts is squeezing out commercial businesses.

“Hagadone Marina is updating their facilities to address recreational needs rather than commercial needs,” Condon said. “Most likely we would still moor our vessels there in the winter time when the recreational vessels aren’t there.”

North Idaho Maritime stores barges and docks in Cougar Bay. Historically, the company was 90% mill services, storing 140 acres worth of logs in Cougar Bay waiting to be milled at Atlas Mill. Only Skip Murphy, owner of Murphy Marine Construction Company, has a permit from the Idaho Department of Lands to store docks in Cougar Bay because he owns an adjacent parcel of land, according to IDL.

When Condon applied for a permit to store docks in Cougar Bay, IDL struggled because Condon did not have a property parcel adjacent to the bay to attach the permit. The agency understands the necessity of winter dock storage and will allow all storage to continue in the bay this winter.

“We’ve been kicking the can down the road, if you will,” said Mike Ahmer, Resource Supervisor for Idaho Department of Lands. “Next year, in June, we are going to require that all dock storage has a permit. But now, with new people in charge, we interpret it to mean that if you own waterfront property, you can have storage anywhere for commercial purposes.”

That means Condon’s storage wouldn’t be isolated to Wolf Lodge Bay.

“Today we are zero percent mill service. We reinvented ourselves. We’re retooling and reinvesting our company,” Condon said. “Three men on staff are celebrating 40 years with the company.”

North Idaho Maritime leased access of the old Atlas Mill site from the city of Coeur d’Alene to load and unload its barges on the Spokane River. Prior to the city’s ownership of that land, the company leased access from Washington Trust Bank and the mill directly. With new development underway at the old Atlas Mill site, North Idaho Maritime can no longer load and unload equipment and tools onto its barges.

“We are at a turning point,” Condon said. “Historically, we’ve been a blue-collar, working-class community.”

The hearing inadvertently focused larger lake management tensions into one bay. Historic, current, erased, and ecological use wormed their way into a conversation surrounding what seemed like a small proposal from a well-established business. Some in the community have asked, “What use of the bay and in turn the lake best benefits those who live here?”

“Lake Coeur d’Alene is really special,” Kootenai Environmental Alliance Director Amy Anderson said, echoing a refrain heard often in North Idaho. Anderson continued: “75 million metric tons of heavy metals sit at its base. Kootenai County commissioners have a responsibility to make land use decisions that don’t harm the lake and the community.”

Anderson spoke at the Dec. 11 hearing and plans to take advantage of her extended time today.

“A big part of managing oxygenated water is managing land use,” Anderson said. “It goes hand in hand.

“If you weigh the benefits to the community with benefits for this property owner, the community makes a lot of money with fisheries, tourism for the eagles, and scenic Highway 97. Wolf Lodge Bay is the gateway to the city and a big draw environmentally.”

The commissioners have their work cut out for them.

“Idaho Department of Lands is ultimately responsible for whatever uses land on the water in this project,” Kootenai County Director of Community Development David Callahan said in an opening statement at the Dec. 11 hearing. “We do our best to understand the application, to make an informed and professional response, but ultimately we must rely on other agencies for their jurisdiction, authority, and decision making. We are really a conduit in a referral out to say ‘this is what’s going on’.”

According to Fillios, many agencies have remained neutral. Idaho Department of Lands has not received an application from Condon requesting an encroachment permit for any activities for Wolf Lodge Bay and likely will not until the rezoning hearing is complete, according to Robbie Johnson, Public Information Officer for Idaho Department of Lands.

“If an application is submitted, it will go through IDL’s encroachment permit process,” Johnson said. “Any application beyond a single-family dock would involve a public hearing, and people can voice any concerns they have about the proposal during that time. The application would also be reviewed by various agencies, including the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the Idaho Transportation Department, Idaho Fish and Game, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Idaho Department of Water Resources, and the Idaho Conservation League. Ultimately the decision to accept an application for these types of encroachment requests is made by a third-party hearing officer.”

Idaho Fish and Game remained neutral on whether or not the county should grant a zone change.

“Wolf Lodge Bay, in the deeper portions of the bay, essentially that area west of the small peninsula — and down current from the mouth of Wolf Lodge Creek — that would purportedly be the focal point for development, is the primary spawning area for kokanee in Coeur d’Alene Lake,” Idaho Fish and Game Panhandle Regional Supervisor Chip Corsi said. “Thus, it would be hoped that any development proposed with a zone change would be capable of protecting existing water quality in Wolf Lodge Bay.”

Kokanee need clean, silt-free gravel beds with clean water exchange to spawn, according to Kiira Siitari, regional communications manager for the Idaho Department of Lands.

“They actually spawn in pretty deep water,” Siitari said. “Most of the spawning takes place below where the lake is moving up and down. Boats going back and forth doesn’t really impact the spawning beds. If there is any kind of sediment disturbance while the fish are putting down their nests that would affect their spawning.”

Until Condon submits a proposal for a commercial dock, the agency can’t comment on whether or not it would impact spawning grounds.

“I’m dealing with this, but BLM built a boat launch right by the spawning grounds,” Condon said. “I think I’ve become an easy target. If they were truly concerned about bedding gravels they would have come out in opposition.”

The drafted conditional zoning development agreement (CZDA) between Kootenai County and John Condon recommended by the county examiner requires Condon to apply for a Special Notice Permit should the zone change be granted.

“The Special Use Permit is an administrative review that allows the Community Development Department to impose conditions associated with any use to protect the integrity of the area,” Kootenai County Planning Manager Mary Shaw said. “The special notice permit process does go out for a public comment period where the public can address proposed use. “

If the commissioners vote against Condon’s petition, he will get an automatic appeal hearing.

“Anytime the board rules against the examiner in land use cases, the petitioner gets an automatic appeal,” Fillios said.

If the Wolf Lodge zone change is approved, Condon will still have to go through the Special Notice Permit with the county and apply to the Idaho Department of Lands to shore up a bulkhead. Both processes invite the public and governing agencies to provide input.