Boundary County Planning and Zoning Commission
Minutes

April 20, 2017

At 5:30 pm Co-Chairman Wade Purdom opened the meeting and welcomed Adam Isaac as a new member on the Planning & Zoning Commission. After identifying the presence of a quorum Purdom asked if there were any changes or corrections to be made to the Minutes of the February 16 meeting. There were none and Purdom asked for a motion to approve the February minutes. Kim Peterson so moved, seconded by Adam Isaac. The motion passed unanimously. Purdom then asked if there were any changes or corrections to be made to the Minutes of the March 16 meeting. There were none and Purdom asked for a motion to approve the March minutes. Adam Isaac so moved, seconded by John Cranor. The motion passed unanimously.

[Planning & Zoning minutes are transcribed from the conversation that takes place during the meeting. Topics are condensed, eliminating verbatim comment in order to condense the material. Key points are included in this extraction and all votes taken are recorded.]

Next on the agenda was a hearing to grant a Conditional Use Permit (17-054) to Eric Pipitone for an RV park to be located directly south of the Log Inn. In his opening statement Mr. Pipitone outlined the plans for a 24/7 RV park with 10 spots for RV parking and 5 spaces for cabins. Presentation material showed the layout of the proposed park, complete with water, septic and power availability to all spaces. The layout showed adherence to setback requirements for the park located in a Commercial/Light Industrial zone.

Purdom asked the Commission if there were any questions for the applicant. Peterson asked how wide the entrances were and if there was adequate space to negotiate an RV through the park. Mr. Pipitone said there were two entrances, the eastern being 33 feet wide and planned to allow both ingress and egress using this eastern entrance. He said the western entrance is 20 feet wide and is to be used for ingress only (one way). He said that adequate space allowed for all vehicular traffic through the park. There were no further questions.

Purdom asked if there were any present who wished to speak in favor of the application. Dennis Weed, EDC, said he would like to speak and apologized for having to leave due to a prior commitment. He said that he was encouraged by the application, saw the proposal as a benefit for the community, and that his only reservation had to do with safety. Mr. Weed said the area is zoned Commercial/Light Industrial but the road and infrastructure is more residential in nature. He said he had talked with Mr. Kimball of Road and Bridge, and appreciated the viewpoint that more traffic of a commercial nature can be expected in the future. Since safety is everyone's first concern Mr. Weed said that he hoped the discussion would address any safety issues that may be brought up. Mr. Weed expressed his support for Mr. Pipitone's project and again apologized for having to leave. There were no questions from the Commission for Mr. Weed.

Purdom asked if there were any present who were non-committal. Clint Kimball said that would be him, and rose to express his support for the application. He said that he had hoped to see engineering diagrams dealing with turn ratios and being able to view how actual traffic turns could be accomplished with the proposed driveway entrance widths. Mr. Kimball provided a list of concerns, including:

• Provisions for parking when registering
• Parking for overnight semis/combination units
• Providing easy access for properties and new business farther in on Tobe Way
• If access is not easy may discourage development for others
• Proposed approaches may not allow vehicle leaving to stay in the appropriate lane (required to keep traffic moving as expansion equates to more traffic)
• 20 ft wide approach is not adequate for motor homes with wheel bases of 287"
• Are drawings accurately representative of track of RVs turning radius?
• Snow removal plan?
• Fire department OK with approaches? If approach is occupied is there room for entering emergency vehicles?

The Commission asked a number of questions of Mr. Kimball, reminded of Mr. Weed's comments regarding the infrastructure not supporting Commercial/Light Industrial traffic. Mr. Kimball suggested there might be a long term resolution required, involving resurfacing the road for all-weather and year-long traffic requirements. He said that the single most important restriction at this point dealt with an entrance not being wide enough: the eastern entrance of 33 ft width needed to be expanded to 40 feet, and the current limits of the property size prohibited this widening. Mr. Kimball sat down after answering questions from the Commission.

Chairman Purdom asked if the applicant had any closing remarks concerning his application. Mr. Pipitone suggested that since he owns the property adjacent to the east, where the 33 ft ingress/egress was an issue due to width, that he would be amenable to a parcel line adjustment which would grant 7 to 10 feet additional width to the eastern driveway. He asked if that would solve Mr. Kimball's concern. Mr. Kimball replied that yes, if the entrance was widened to 40 feet he would find that acceptable. Staff asked Mr. Kimball if this was the only issue, that if the driveway were widened would he have any further concerns. Mr. Kimball said that the 40 foot solution satisfied his concern.

After there were no more uncommitted speakers present, Purdom asked if there were any opposed to the application. Linda Stasio expressed concern that a quiet residential neighborhood was proposed to be noisy and dusty with big rigs and heavy traffic. She said that kids are noisy, and tourists with kids is what to expect in an RV park. Staff explained that the RV park, and all land from Homestead Loop to the west up to Moon Shadow on the north across to Highway 95 on the east was zoned Commercial/Light Industrial several years ago. Although there may be residential structures in this zone, the zone permits the activity to which Ms. Stasio refers. There were no questions from the Commission for Ms. Stasio. No further objections were made.

Purdom turned the time over to the Commission to discuss the application. Peterson expressed concern regarding the proposed layout, saying that trying to keep your big vehicle in a narrow passage proves to be very difficult for older people. Her own experience in driving a large RV made her aware of just how difficult navigating in a confined space can be. John Cranor stated that he agreed with Peterson's concern. Marciavee Cossette said that driving in tight spaces for older people is a problem. Continuing discussion focused on the safety issue and with the applicant's proposal to widen his eastern entrance to 40 feet through a parcel line adjustment. The Commission agreed there had to be time enough to consider the redesign of the eastern entrance.

Kim Peterson moved to table the application until the next meeting, giving the applicant time to prepare additions to his proposal. The motion was seconded by Adam Isaac and the votes were as follows:.

Ron Self - Absent, John Cranor - Aye, Tim Heenan - Absent, Scott Fuller - Absent, Kim Peterson - Aye, Marciavee Cossette - Aye, Wade Purdom - Aye (tie-breaker), Adam Isaac - Aye, Caleb Davis - Absent;
Tally: Nay (0), Aye (5), Absent (4) - Motion to table the hearing until the next meeting was approved unanimously.

The last item on the Agenda, Ordinance Considerations, had to do with presenting the proposed Land Use Ordinance 2017-1 changes to the public for approval and subsequent recommendation to the County Commissioners for adoption. There was a presentation of the typographical changes in Section2, the Final Plat timing considerations proposed in Section 11 (and related enforcement provisions in Section 4). A change to Section 3.6.4. regarding the procedure for filling an opening on the Planning & Zoning Commission was reviewed and found acceptable by the Commission for inclusion in these approved changes for public acceptance. Changes to both Subdivision and Parcel Division exemptions, specifically in Section 11.2.5. and Section 20.3.5. the statement reads “Parcels are established through testamentary provisions or the laws of descent, provided documentation is provided the administrator so as to identify parcels so created”. The Commission agreed this exemption be removed from the two sections.

Staff suggested that although there were additional changes being considered, the content of the agreed upon changes should be approved and the recommended changes be forwarded to the Commissioners. If further changes, in addition to these, meet approval then rather than forward the current changes immediately a second public hearing can be called for in order to present the total change package to the Commissioners at one time.
Purdom asked what the point was in following this procedure. Staff said that having the bulk of these changes approved in a public hearing (this meeting) simplifies the presentation regarding any additional changes, and that the Commissioners would be involved in just one public hearing regarding these changes.
Kim Peterson moved to present the immediate approved changes to the Commissioners for their review. The motion was seconded by John Cranor and the votes were as follows:.

Ron Self - Absent, John Cranor - Aye, Tim Heenan - Absent, Scott Fuller - Absent, Kim Peterson - Aye, Marciavee Cossette - Aye, Wade Purdom - Aye (tie-breaker), Adam Isaac - Aye, Caleb Davis - Absent;
Tally: Nay (0), Aye (5), Absent (4) - Motion to recommend approval by the County Commissioners of these publicly agreed upon updates was approved unanimously.

John Cranor had to leave. Staff suggested the May meeting should be held on schedule to provide a continuance of the application 17-054 hearing. Staff also noted the definition of 'Density' (The smallest parcel size allowable within a zone district) and recommended using 'Density' rather than 'Standard Net Residential Density' throughout the ordinance (due to the removal of Density Bonus from ordinance 2015-2). Staff asked for a review of "Section 20.11. Transfer of Real Property to Family Members". Kim Peterson moved to adjourn, Adam Isaac seconded, approved unanimously at 8:20 pm.

John B. Moss
Recorder