Boundary County Planning and Zoning Commission
Minutes
April 18, 2002
1. Members present: Jim Paulus, Mary Ann Luedtke, Marc Paulson, Jane Kirby, Lon Merrifield, Donna Standley. Members absent: Ed Torrence, Chris Boyer. Staff present: Mike Weland.
2. Paulus called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. and called for reading of March minutes. Kirby requested that minutes be read through to item 5. Paulus read minutes through to item 5. Kirby said she felt item 4 should be amended as she remembered there had been a vote; staff stated that no motion for a vote had been taken; Paulus said the vote in question had been part of discussion. Paulson made motion to approve the March minutes as mailed, the motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Paulus made public apology for having tabled a decision on making a recommendation to county commissioners on appointing new members to the P&Z Commission at the March meeting without having obtained the consensus of members.
3. Paulus read the procedure for public hearing; Merrifield pointed out that agenda item two had been skipped. Paulus called county commission candidate Walt Kirby; Kirby announced that he was a candidate for county commissioner, and stated that he felt there was room for improvement in the relationship between the Board of County Commissioners and the Planning and Zoning Commission. He said he has seen the work of the P&Z Commission, and said he appreciated the contributions made by members.
4. Paulus opened public hearing on SUP 01-05 by Columbia Wireless; staff stated that because of the recent ordinance amendment, the application should be considered a conditional use with the P&Z commission making a final determination. No member cited conflict of interest. Applicant Tim McFadden stated that this was the second application for a wireless communications facility in the Naples area, and that public input during the first hearing process indicated that aesthetics were very important. He stated that the proposed parcel is bordered on two sides by Forest Service property, and that the location would give better signal propagation to the south than the original site due to the contour of the ground. He stated that the tower would provide collocation for cellular phones and law enforcement, and said there has been recent interest by a firm seeking to provide high-speed wireless internet connections as well. He said the property would be leased, the facility would be unmanned and traffic was estimated at one to two vehicles every four to six weeks. He said that with the inclusion of the Naples site, Columbia Wireless believed that the main highway corridors would have seamless coverage. He noted that the setback indicated in the text of the application had been amended to 250 feet and was in compliance with the zoning and subdivision ordinance. Paulus called for questions from staff, there were none. There was no staff report. Paulus called for public comment in favor of the proposal. Don Nystrom, 20 Mile, said he owned property adjoining the Davis property, and said that if a tower was needed, this was probably a very good place. He stated he would not like to see a strobe on the tower. Paulus asked McFadden if the FAA had made a determination on lighting requirements, McFadden said they had not, but it was his opinion that the tower would not have to be lighted. He stated that if it did have to be lit, Columbia Wireless would have no problem shielding the light from ground view. Dave Wattenbarger, Naples, said he felt the current proposal adequately addressed the concerns raised in the initial public hearings, and said he felt the site was the best available. Paulus called for comment from those uncommitted, there were none. He called for comment from those opposed. Jacob Epstein, Copeland, said he agreed with Wattenbarger and Nystrom that the proposal came closer to addressing community concerns, but said he still has concerns. He said that the site plan did not indicate where the photographs had been taken from, making it hard to evaluate the proposal. He stated that proposed tower was two feet under the 200’ limit, but felt it was still too tall. He said that the lattice tower was the worst structure for compatibility with forest, and said it was his opinion that a monopole tower would be more suitable. He stated that the ordinance required disclosure of plans for future towers, and said no such disclosure was depicted on the RF maps provided. He said he felt the board should table a decision until these questions were answered. He said the RF map was confusing as each color had the same numerical value. He stated that Columbia Wireless was leasing a 100’ x 100’ plot, but said the ordinance required a setback of tower height plus 50,’ he said he felt Columbia should lease the entire area covered by the setback requirement. He stated that he felt the parcel should be re-zoned to commercial to allow proper valuation for tax purposes. Paulus asked McFadden and Ron Smith if they could address these questions. Smith explained how the RF map was developed, and stated that the map initially included with the application was in error and that a new map had been submitted indicating the actual decibel range for each color. Staff read these numbers. Paulus asked about future plans, McFadden said they may need one more tower south of the golf course, but that they felt the current location would likely provide the desired coverage; he said they would assess the need for an additional tower after the three towers currently proposed were in operation. Smith said they were still looking at ways to provide coverage in the Copeland area. In closing, McFadden thanked the commission for the time spent in consideration, and said that when the original proposals were made, their plan was to provide coverage with the fewest towers necessary; he said that was still their plan. He stated that there has been a lot of interest expressed in wireless services, and that he felt the current plan was very viable and would provide necessary services. Paulus closed the hearing to public testimony and called for questions from members; Luedtke said she lived two miles south of the Canadian border at Eastport and asked if there were plans to provide coverage there. McFadden said there were two issues to consider; one that traffic and population were less in that area and second that signal bleed-down from Canada. He said a tower north of Bonners Ferry would eliminate bleed-down by providing a stronger signal. Paulson asked if the Moyie tower would provide coverage in Eastport, McFadden said he didn’t think so, but said a Copeland tower would assist. Paulson stated it was important to provide wireless service to allow residents to take advantage of new technologies. Luedtke said she felt Columbia Wireless had actually listened to community concerns and listened to local voices, she said she was appreciative. Following discussion, Luedtke made motion to approve SUP 01-05 on the Barry and Christa Davis property as proposed; Kirby seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
5. Paulus opened public hearing on SUP 02-01, Boundary Electric. No member cited conflict of interest. Applicant Will Hedrick stated that he lives on the parcel, located immediately east of Bonners Ferry Builders on Highway 2 and that he’s been working as an electrical contractor on a part time basis from the property. He said it was his intention to go full time by opening a full-line outlet for electrical supplies and that it was his hope that there would be approximately 30 vehicles per day. He said he had looked at existing commercial buildings and could find nothing affordable. Paulus called for questions from members, Kirby asked the applicant if the property was the old Solt property, Hedrick said it was. There were no further questions. Paulus called for public comment from those in favor of the application, Walt Kirby said he absolutely favored the idea and said he drove by the parcel often and said the applicant has been making significant improvements. He said he felt the public and the P&Z Commission should support such enterprise. There were no further public comments and the applicant made no closing statement. Paulus closed the hearing to public testimony and called for discussion among members. Standley asked staff if notices had been mailed, staff said they had. She said her only concern was the dust that would be raised by so many vehicles. Hedrick said the drive would be graveled and was configured in a way that precluded speeding. Standley asked if it was sufficient to provide access for semis, Hedrick stated that the drive would be in a U-shape to accommodate semi traffic. He stated he had talked to all adjoining property owners and said there were no objections raised. Paulus asked if the business would be wholesale or retail, Hedrick said both. There being no further discussion, Paulson made motion to forward to the Board of County Commissioners a recommendation that application SUP 02-01 be approved as submitted, Standley seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
6. Paulus opened public hearing on SUP 02-02 by Continental Lands Inc., and noted that the applicants had requested the application be tabled until the next meeting due to a conflict in schedule. Standley made motion to table the application until the next meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission, Luedtke seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
7. Under old business, Paulus called for continued discussion of proposed amendments to the zoning and subdivision ordinance; discussion was held on the definition of home based businesses. Luedtke said she was still concerned that the phrase “clearly incidental and subordinate to” was too open to interpretation, but no more precise wording was proposed. Merrifield stated that he felt the proposed wording would place the public in a better position to decide what a home-based business was. Following discussion, Paulson made motion to approve the amendments as drafted 3/21/02 and schedule a public hearing on the amendments for the next meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Kirby seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
8. Under old business, Paulus called for discussion of letters of interest in positions on the Planning and Zoning Commission from Jacob Epstein and Doug Reoch; Luedtke made motion to forward to county commissioners a recommendation of approval on letters of interest from Jacob Epstein and Doug Reoch, Paulson seconded and the motion carried unanimously.
9. There being no further business before the Planning and Zoning Commission, Merrifield moved to adjourn. Paulson seconded and the motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.