The Blaine County Commission has announced a series of Public Information Forums it will hold on issues relating to its six-month moratorium on subdivision applications. The goal of the forums is to inform the public of issues being reviewed and actions being considered during the moratorium. The public will have the opportunity to ask questions, but the forums are not intended as a place for the public to advocate positions or give presentations. The public will have an opportunity to comment on proposed county action later, during hearings held by the County Planning and Zoning Commission and County Commission.
The County commission has retained consultants from three consulting firms to examine and recommend courses of action concerning five different topics related to growth and planning. The first forum on Community Housing was held Tuesday with consultant Bill Collins of Collins Planning Associates.
Separate Public Information Forums will be held on four other topics according to the following schedule. All the forums are at the Old County Courthouse in Hailey:
· Cost of Services, Monday, Feb. 21, 6-7:30 p.m. with consultants Martin Flannes and Morgan Brown, Developing Green LLC.
· Blaine County Regional Planning, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 6-7:30 p.m. with consultants Martin Flannes and Morgan Brown, Developing Green LLC.
· Cluster Developments/Conservation/Open Space, Monday, Feb. 28, 6-7:30 p.m. with consultant Lisa Horowitz, Golden Triangle Consulting.
· Water Supply/Quality and Wastewater Treatment, Wednesday, March 2, 6-7:30 p.m. with consultants Martin Flannes and Morgan Brown, Developing Green LLC.
Citing concerns about water quality and quantity and other quality of life impacts, the County Commission voted Jan 10 to impose a temporary moratorium on new development projects within the unincorporated area of the county. Commission Chair Sarah Michael commented on the unprecedented development that the county is seeing. County citizens have been very vocal with their concerns about the impact of growth, Michael said. "If all of the single-family dwellings under discussion were approved, there would be a 40 percent increase in housing and population in the county."
Idaho Code 67-6523 allows local governments to adopt emergency moratoriums related to land use decisions for a period of not longer than 182 days. The six-month Blaine County moratorium applies to new applications for development in the unincorporated area of the county, but not to completed applications already submitted to the Planning and Zoning Department or to projects of four or fewer new lots.
Some of the topics and potential actions that the Blaine County Board is reviewing, include:
· Amending Blaine County Code to require a community-housing component that is linked to a new development.
· Reviewing the Community Housing -PUD ordinance.
· Analyzing the cost of providing services for new developments and suggest mechanisms to pay for these impacts.
· Reviewing Area of City Impact Agreements between the County and the Cities.
· Reviewing the A-20 and A-10 zoning districts and cluster developments.
· The viability of creating water and sewer districts within the County.
· Rewriting applicable sections of the Comprehensive Plan, Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision
· Ordinance to reflect the findings of the discussions.
For questions or comments, contact Developing Green, the project managers for BC-PUP: Martin A. Flannes, 208-788-1315, martin@devgreen.com, or Morgan Brown, 208-725-4020, morgan@devgreen.com, or contact the Blaine County Commissioners at 208-788-5500.
