The developers of the massive 307-unit Cove Springs subdivision apparently won't take no for an answer.
In a letter sent to Blaine County Deputy Prosecutor Tim Graves on Monday, Oct. 22, lawyers for the development requested that the county immediately enter into meditation talks to resolve the weighty issues that led the Blaine County Commission to deny the project.
With the Cove Springs developers looking on, the three-member commission unanimously denied their development application on Thursday, Oct. 18. The commissioners cited the large size, scope and location of the proposed development in rejecting the application.
So, ahead of 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 31, the tentative date when the County Commission is set to consider their findings on the Cove Springs deliberation, the developers have asked for one last chance to resolve the impasse.
In the letter to the county, Chris Meyer, an attorney with Givens Pursley LLP, the law firm representing the Cove Springs developers, states that the project's repeated mediation requests are predicated on Idaho code, which allows for such requests.
Meyer states that mediation would allow the applicants to learn what actions they could take to modify their application so it meets with the approval of the county.
"It would also enable interested parties and the board to more fully inform each other as to the concerns about the proposed project," Meyer writes.
So far, county officials haven't announced how they intend to respond to the applicants' request for mediation.
If the Cove Springs developers should chose to enter into litigation over the denial of their application, they would have to appeal the decision to the local 5th Judicial District Court, Blaine County Planner Stefanie Webster said Tuesday.
Webster said that in the event that the decision by the commission is ultimately upheld by the court, the developers would have to resubmit any development applications for the approximately 4,600-acre Cove Ranch under the revised county zoning and subdivision standards developed during the lengthy Blaine County 2025 process.
After their proposed project was denied last week, the Cove Springs developers said that litigation is likely.
