Priest Lake wetlands case remanded to district court

COOLIN — The Idaho Supreme Court has reaffirmed its unanimous ruling that land division applications tied to a proposed 35-lot development in the Coolin Wetlands are subject to judicial review, returning the case to district court for further proceedings.

The Idaho Supreme Court initially ruled against Tricore Investments on July 8, saying its plan to use administrative workarounds was an attempt to avoid public scrutiny that Idaho subdivision law requires. Monday’s affirmation of the ruling sends the case back to the district court for full judicial review.

Petitioners, who include Michael Budig, Todd Brinkmeyer, John Stockton and the Priest Lake Cabin Owners’ Association, were awarded their costs on appeal.

“This ruling is about more than one possible development," said Todd Brinkmeyer, a Priest Lake property owner and lead petitioner in the case. "This is about ensuring developers follow the laws created to best utilize and protect our shared land and property rights."

The Coolin Wetlands have existed for thousands of years and need to be protected, Brinkmeyer said.

"They clean the water, protect the shoreline, and shelter wildlife that depends on this ecosystem," he added. "What Tricore tried to do is wrong and five state Supreme Court justices agreed. Now, the people who live and love Priest Lake get a say in its future.”

The 65-acre site has been the source of controversy and legal challenges since 2015 when the family estate that owned the wetland initially sold the property to Tricore before changing direction three days before the sale was finalized and selling it to Stockton and Brinkmeyer, among others.

The land was awarded to Tricore in April 2021 following the property dispute, and the company moved forward with plans for a housing development. Tricore, owned and led by Coeur d’Alene developer Cliff Mort, later filed 54 quitclaim deeds in a single day, transferring property to and from itself to carve out 26 waterfront lots.

The company then filed two separate land division applications, each kept just under the legal threshold that would trigger full subdivision review, to create eight more sites. Bonner County approved both, despite its own attorney acknowledging the developer was trying to do just that.

“One of those people says it looks as though this developer was trying to avoid the subdivision requirements," the county attorney is quoted in a Supreme Court summary of the case. "It doesn’t just look like it, they 100 percent were.”

The applications were ultimately approved by the Board of County Commissioners in May 2021, setting the stage for the latest legal challenge over the lack of public involvement and review.

In its ruling, the high court found that Tricore’s two applications, filed simultaneously for contiguous land under common ownership, operated together as a single effort to divide the property into eight lots and therefore were subject to judicial review under LLUPA. The court’s opinion cited established Idaho law that it is not permissible to “do indirectly what one is prevented by law from doing directly.”

The district court dismissed the petition after concluding it lacked jurisdiction because the MLD applications were not subject to judicial review under LLUPA. However, on appeal, the Idaho Supreme Court reversed the decision and remanded the case for further proceedings.

The Idaho Supreme Court held that Tricore’s applications were subject to judicial review under the plain meaning of Idaho Code 67-6521(1)(a)(i), noting that MLDs such as those at the heart of the dispute resembled a subdivision and were covered by language pertaining to “such other similar applications required or authorized pursuant to this chapter.”

The court also ruled that Tricore's applications fell within the residual clause, making them subject to judicial review. The court also noted the applications were filed simultaneously by the same applicant for contiguous property under common ownership.

"Thus, they resembled a subdivision and are subject to LLUPA," the summary notes.

Area conservationists said the site is a critical part of the local ecosystem, noting the Coolin Wetlands hold a Class 1 classification, the highest ecological rating for a wetland in Idaho, reserved for those in near-pristine condition. Only 13 such wetlands exist in the state. Idaho Fish and Game ranks the area among the top 50 most important wetland habitats in the Gem State.

This site also carries a moratorium on new sewer hookups through the Coolin Sewer District, a barrier to development that exists independently of the permitting fight.