For the week of November 5 - 11, 2003

Picabo rezone approved

Subdivision approval next step in process

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"What I propose to do here is to clean up a lot of loose ends."

—NICK PURDY, Picabo Livestock Co. owner

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By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

The Blaine County Commissioners on Monday gave unanimous support to a plan to move future residential development out of the center of Picabo to its eastern end.

The so-called Picabo rezone was put forth about a year and a half ago by Nick Purdy, who, in Picabo Livestock Co., owns much of the land in the hamlet southeast of Bellevue. Purdy applied for a rezone to change 16 acres of residential-zoned land near the town’s center to agricultural use, and 51 acres of land zoned for agriculture and light industrial at the east end, just south of Highway 20, to residential use.

Purdy’s goal is to direct development away from his ranching operations near the center of town. Reducing conflicts there, he says, would make for more pleasant living for future residents and help him keep the ranch going.

"All kinds of problems have never been solved since the land was platted in 1917," he said. "What I propose to do here is to clean up a lot of loose ends."

Purdy’s plans also include development of an 18-lot subdivision on the newly zoned residential property. Though he submitted the rezone and subdivision applications simultaneously, the county is ruling on the rezone first. Approval of the rezone is contingent on eventual approval of Purdy’s subdivision application.

The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the application, with minor changes last May. The commissioners approved most of the P&Z’s findings, but minor changes and an unresolved issue required the scheduling of a second meeting on the subject for Nov. 3.

At the Monday meeting, commissioners primarily hammered out issues related to a privately owned airstrip on the north side of Highway 20.

Though it was not part of Purdy’s proposal, the P&Z recommended that a 30-acre parcel north of the airstrip be rezoned from R-1 to R-5. However, Mix pointed out that development there might be affected by the county’s Airport Vicinity Overlay District, which prohibits building in a "primary safety zone," consisting of a flared strip on each side of the runway.

Commissioners voted 2-1 to approve the R-5 zoning north of the airport.

With her dissenting vote on the north-airport property on the record, Mix joined her fellow commissioners in voting for the overall project.

 

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