South-county landowners request expanded industry
By TRAVIS PURSER
Express Staff Writer
The Blaine County Planning and zoning Commission is soliciting public
comment on requests by two landowners to allow industrial development on 50 acres of
agricultural land in the Glendale area.
On Oct. 12, the P&Z recommended that 300 acres south of Bellevue be
redesignated on the county comprehensive plan’s land-use map for industrial use. Part
of that land was also rezoned from agricultural and heavy industrial uses to Light
Industrial.
Now, S. Erwin Excavation company seeks to expand that area to include the
company’s 40 acres adjacent to Highway 75. If approved, the request would allow the
property to be rezoned.
The excavation company has already filed the rezone request, from
Productive Agriculture to Light Industrial.
Light Industrial zoning allows uses compatible with adjoining commercial
or residential uses. Activities permitted include light manufacturing, retail and
distribution facilities.
The second landowner, Robin Tomasi, whose property was partially included
in the Oct. 12 rezone, asks to have an additional 10 acres of agricultural land rezoned to
Light Industry. The property is located adjacent to Glendale Road, about a mile west of
the highway.
A public hearing to consider both landowners’ applications is
scheduled for 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at the old Blaine County courthouse in Hailey.
Decisions the P&Z makes on Nov. 9, as well as decisions it made Oct.
12, are not final until the county board of commissioners gives its approval. That could
happen in the next several weeks, though no meeting date to consider the matter has been
set.
Recent land-use changes in the Glendale area began over a month ago with a
rezone request made by Dan Brown. That request created a flurry of similar requests by his
neighbors, which in part prompted the P&Z to visit the area to get a feel for the land
before making changes.
Some members of the public have criticized the P&Z’s recent
actions in the Glendale area, saying it creates sprawl.
P&Z chairman Tom Bowman, however, said the changes make good planning
sense.
Language in the county’s comp plan, he said "really designates
this area as compatible for industrial uses. It doesn’t discourage them."
