By KEVIN WISER
Express Staff Writer
After a few months of relative calm on the south county front, the
debate over land use in the Bellevue Triangle reared its contentious head Monday at a
hearing of the Blaine County Commissioners.
The commissioners postponed a decision on an application by William and
Mary Helen Leet to subdivide 104 acres into four lots, approximately 26 aces in size. The
property is zoned A-20 Productive Agriculture and is located on the southwest corner of
Baseline Road and Schoessler Lane.
On May 27, the Blaine County Planning and Zoning Commission recommended
denial of the application based on its nonconformance with the agricultural section of the
Blaine County Comprehensive Plan. That hearing was attended by a handful of south county
farmers and ranchers. The ensuing debate revealed deep-rooted dissension, not only between
property owners and the commission but among the farmers and ranchers themselves. Some
owners of agricultural land want to subdivide all or part of their land, while others who
want to continue farming fear more subdivisions could harm their operations.
That debate continued at Monday’s meeting, and involved two main
issues.
The first involved interpretation of county zoning and subdivision
ordinances and whether they support approval of the Leets’ application.
The second involved the plight of farmers and ranchers in Blaine County
during a time of depressed market prices and their right to realize the full value of
their land by subdividing it.
"We respectfully appeal to your patience in examining these
issues," Leet said. "The decision you make with respect to this application will
affect all of the farmers and ranchers in the south county."
In arguing for approval, Leet referred to other south county
subdivisions that have been approved in the past and the county’s "recent random
application of zoning laws."
"Subdivision proposals in similar areas receive different
treatment," he contended. "If laws are not applied consistently there might as
well not be law. The result is chaos.
"You have the power to act in compliance with the zoning laws of
the county by approving our application."
Leet said farmers are having increasing difficulties earning a profit.
The cost to produce has gone up while the price of products has gone down or stayed the
same, he said.
"For people who depend on their land for income, these are lean
times," he said. "Their property is all they have--it’s their security. But
to provide security it must hold its value and it has to be subdividable, in accordance
with the zoning laws."
Representing the applicants, attorney Gary Slette argued that the Leet
proposal conforms with the county’s subdivision ordinances and meets the requirements
of Agricultural zoning.
"A subdivision that complies with zoning and subdivision
ordinances should find approval from the board," he said.
But south county property owner Judy Rogers argued against approval of
the Leet subdivision.
"If in fact every single subdivision application that goes before
this board is approved," Rogers said, "Blaine County will be like Jerome County
where there isn’t any farmland left.
"Productive agriculture will not be productive if you chop it up
into pieces."
South county farmer Dean Rogers contended that some south county
property owners want to be developers, and that residential development harms surrounding
agricultural operations.
"Our ability to make a living off our land is at risk,"
Rogers said. "Our existence is at risk here, not the developers’."
Rogers questioned the potential to make a profit in the farming of A-20
zoned parcels.
This (the Leet’s proposal) is a residential subdivision,"
Rogers said. "Twenty acres is not enough to pay the property taxes."
"The test is not if A-20 is productive or profitable," Slette
rebutted. "The test is does it (the application) meet the ordinance."
South county property owner Pepin Corso-Harris sided with the Leets.
Harris addressed the issue of the extension of county services, which has led to the
denial of south county subdivisions in the past.
Harris agreed that the extension of those services should be a major
concern of the board. However, he pointed out that last year only 12 out of 590 fire and
ambulance calls (2 percent) were to the south part of the county.
"Our (south county property owners’) taxes are based on
acreage," he said. "We pay thousands of dollars in property taxes and don’t
see the services. We take exception to being labeled as a burden on the system."
Consideration of the Leet’s subdivision application was continued
to Sept. 20 at 1:30 p.m. at the old Blaine County Courthouse.
