Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting: JUNE 25, 2026

Meeting Minutes

PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION

MINUTES OF June 25, 2026, PUBLIC MEETING

Boundary County Annex at 6566 Main St., Bonners Ferry, ID 83805

 

ATTENDANCE:

Chair Caleb Davis: ☒Present, ☐Excused, ☐Absent	Vice Chair Wade Purdom:☐Present, ☒Excused, ☐Absent
Rob Woywod:      ☒Present, ☐Excused, ☐Absent	Scott Fuller           ☒Present, ☐Excused, ☐Absent
John Cranor:        ☒Present, ☐Excused, ☐Absent	Adam Isaac:         ☒Present, ☐Excused, ☐Absent
Bill Benage:          ☒Present, ☐Excused, ☐Absent	Anthony Spoto:    ☒Present, ☐Excused, ☐Absent
Seth Kinkade:        ☒Present, ☐Excused, ☐Absent

 

ROLL CALL: Chair Davis called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Roll call: Commission members’ attendance is noted above. Also in attendance: Co-Acting Planning & Zoning Administrators Clare Marley and Tess Vogel, and Boundary County Planning & Zoning Technician Jennifer Maynard.

 

CONSENT AGENDA: Commissioner Fuller moved, and Commissioner Woywod seconded the motion, to approve the May 28, 2026, minutes as presented. The Chair declared the motion approved on a unanimous voice vote from the Commissioners present for the vote: Woywod, Cranor, Benage, Fuller and Spoto.

 

Commissioners Isaac and Kinkade arrived at the meeting at 5:34 p.m.

 

PUBLIC HEARINGS:

REMOVE FROM AGENDA – FILE #25-0150, CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT, THE MYRON D. WENGER & KARLA J. WENGER FAMILY REVOCABLE INTER VIVOS TRUST requesting a conditional use permit for a recreational hospitality use to allow for an existing 5-unit RV park on two, 1-acre parcels where a primary single-family dwelling currently exists. The parcels are zoned Suburban, which requires a conditional use permit for a moderate class level recreational hospitality use when the use is located within 1,000 feet from any existing neighboring dwelling per Section 15.11.5.3. of the Boundary County Land Use Code. The use is located within 1,000 feet of multiple neighboring dwellings. The parcels are located at 114 and 120 Star Road and are identified as Assessor’s Parcels RP62N02E177811A and RP62N02E177812A in Section 17, Township 62 North, Range 2 East, B.M. The Planning and Zoning Commission continued the hearing to June 25th to give the applicant additional time to provide requested information regarding water and sewer services and an updated site plan.

The applicant advised staff that he has not obtained the requested information for this file. Planning Staff noted that the file will be fully re-noticed for the future land use hearing when that time comes.

 

Motion: Commissioner Cranor moved, and Commissioner Woywod seconded the motion, to remove from the agenda File #25-0150, Wenger Family Trust conditional use permit request, and direct staff to schedule this file to the next available regular meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission once the requested information is provided to the planning department and proper legal notice of the hearing is provided.

The Chair declared the motion approved on a unanimous voice vote.

 

LAND USE CODE UPDATE: ACTION ITEM: DISCUSSION/DIRECTION TO STAFF TO PREPARE FOR HEARING

On June 9^TH, the Board of County Commissioners reviewed the draft code update previously presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission by planning staff with minor adjustments. The Board of County Commissioners advised that the updates appeared to generally be housekeeping measures and approved for staff to prepare the ordinance update for public hearing, which was advertised in the June 25^th publication of the Bonners Ferry Herald.

The ordinance was also provided to county civil counsel for review prior to the hearing and he provided comment.

 

EDITS AND UPDATES SINCE THE PREVIOUS MEETING:

Ms. Marley explained that the following edits had been made since the May 28^th meeting:

• Corrected more “will” and “shall” usage.
  • After a review requested to Chair Davis by Vice Chair Purdom, 3.6.6. will be modified to remove “will” from the title.
• Restored “Idaho Open Meetings Law” reference where applicable since Subchapter 2 of Transparent and Ethical Government is still called Open Meetings Law.
• Corrected items noted in May 28th PZ meeting.
• Underlined items that were missing in first draft.
• Fixed title duplication for Conditional Use Permit section “Terminating” CUP.
• Removed portion of CUP expiration at 7.4 that stated a permit would expire if discontinued for two consecutive years, since Idaho Code gives longer extension.
• Revised 19.3.2, Record Maintenance, to rely on Idaho Code rather than saying six months after final decision.

 

The County Civil Attorney Bill Wilson advised that he had no substantive edits but recommended removing the term “and/or” and leaving as just “or,” which can lead to future interpretation challenges, from section 3.6.3.3.  Section 6.5.3 was also updated from “and/or” to just “as applicable.”  These changes were provided to Mr. Wilson for his review after the correction were made on June 25^th.

Ms. Marley reviewed a chart of the changes in the new draft ordinance as follows:

• Section 3.6.3.3, P&Z Reappointment: Current code requires candidate to submit for reappointment whether they want to or not. Update clarifies if they wish reappointment.
• Section 3.6.3.4, Term Limits: Current code states P&Z authorizes reappointment to more than two terms. State code gives that authority to BOCC.
• Section 3.6.3.5, P&Z Appointments: Section deleted. This is repeated at 3.6.4.
• Section 3.6.4, PZ Vacancies: Fixed will/shall wording. Edited section requiring Administrator to set BOCC agenda. States appointments are made per I.C. § 67-6504.
• Section 3.6.5, PZ Meetings: Refers to newly adopted P&Z Bylaws for setting meetings.
• Section 3.6.6, Quorum & Voting: Vote by proxy prohibited. Absent member cannot submit comment for consideration, as this could potentially be considered ex parte or bias.
• Section 3.6.7, PZ Officers: Removes “Co-Chair” title and refers to Bylaws for election and meeting procedures.
• Section 3.6.8, Removal of PZ Member: Removes specific reasons for removal of a member. Refers to Bylaws and Idaho Code for the process. This was inadvertently also listed as 3.6.7 in the presentation and verbally corrected.
• Section 3.7.3, PZ Authority: Removes ACI reference. Shall/will corrections.
• Section 3.8.1, Final Authority: Fixes erroneous statement that a final decision by BOCC can only be contested in court. New state law calls for reconsideration to BOCC.
• Sections 6.4.2 & 6.4.2.1, Development Permits: Adds (10) to days. Removes requirement that Planning first approve the permit and then send to Addressing and Road & Bridge. Current practice is to require Addressing and approach approval first.
• Section 6.4.2.2, Pending Permit: Uses “pending” rather than “table” because review continues.
• Section 6.4.3, Duration of Permit: Allows permit to be transferred if work is the same. Inserts an expiration date of two years. Valid as long as work continues. Extensions by Administrator permitted for cause.
• Section 6.5.2, Decision: Added (10) to ten days.
• Section 6.5.2.2, Pending: Uses “pending” as review continues.
• Section 6.5.3, Duration of Permit: Fixes wording that permits “go” with the land. Strikes statement that permit for a structure becomes invalid if use is discontinued. Once issued, the structure is validly permitted. Discontinued use should not invalidate the structure permit.
• Section 7.4, Terminating CUP: Adds extension clause. Removes automatic invalidation if not in use for two years, since Idaho Code protects vacant uses for up to ten years.
• Section 7.9.4, Defer Decision: Fixes typo changing “my” to “may.”
• Section 11.7.8, Final Plat: Repeals requirement for all special purpose districts to sign final plat. Not required by Idaho Code. Confusing reference to special purpose districts. Requiring all signatures is a logistical nightmare and could allow an entity other than the County to effectively veto a plat. This will remained as reserve to hold the paragraph in place in the event a future topic can fit in this section.
• Section 13.2.2, BOCC Authority: Appeal section must also point to rights under Idaho Code.
• Section 13.2.3, Notice of Appeal: Inserts that any affected person aggrieved by a final decision by the Administrator or P&Z may (not will) file an appeal. Clarifies appeal must be in writing.
• Section 13.2.4.4, Records Request: Removes requirement that records requests must be filed within five working days of the hearing notice being mailed. Inserts requirement to follow the Public Records Act. Nothing prevents someone from filing a records request at any time, not just within five days of hearing notice.
• Section 13.2.5, Appeal Hearing: Adds missing “of.” Adds that mediation is per Idaho Code and local code. Fixes typo changing “mitigation” to “mediation.”
• Section 13.2.7, Judicial Relief: Adds the word “final” decision, as a decision must be final to be eligible for judicial review. Adds the word “reconsideration,” which is a newer route to appeal that must be used before court action. Replaces “Rule 84, Idaho Court Rules” with Land Use Planning Act, Chapter 65, Title 67.
• Section 19.2.1, Legal Publication: Fixes will/shall wording. Replaces “a development permit” with “a land use request” for applications requiring a public hearing.
• Section 19.2.3, Mailed Notice: Administrator has to draft legal notice but doesn’t say to provide it. Adds the word “provide.” Fixes the clerical challenge of having to mail one day prior to newspaper publication. Changes to not less than 15 days prior to hearing, per state law.
• Section 19.2.3.3, Sending Notice: Inserts that property owners or purchasers of record are entitled to legal mailed notice per state code. Current code also lumps all adjoining applicant ownerships into the 300-foot notice requirement, which could unintentionally capture many parcels. Changes the requirement to properties within 300 feet of the lot or parcel that is the subject of the application.
• Section 19.2.3.4, Additional Notice: added any additional noticing as required by Idaho’s Local Land Use Planning Act to include Airport, TC Energy, etc.
• Section 19.3.2, Record Maintenance: Relies on state code rather than six months, which used to be two years in state law and could change again. A period will be added after “record” in the first sentence.
• Section 19.3.3, Ex Parte Contact: Reference to Open Meetings Law is changed to Transparent and Ethical Government, the new Title 74, as the conduct provisions are not part of the Open Meetings Law. Inserted conflict of interest state language.
• Section 19.3.4, Lack of Quorum: Current code allowed a meeting or hearing to be opened and tabled to a date and time certain. When there is no quorum, there can be no votes taken, so tabling and setting agendas cannot occur. New language states the Chair shall declare the hearing canceled if there is no quorum. No decisions shall be made nor votes cast in the absence of a quorum.

 

Ms. Marley reviewed the next project efforts and next steps for subdivision procedures, private road standards, and subdivision, which will be a code rewrite as well.  The planners worked with the previous co-superintendents from Road and Bridge and had brought forth recommendations for the private road standards to create parameters for internal use. Ms. Marley and Ms. Vogel will discuss the proposal with the new co-superintendents, Adam Ryals and Brad Barton, gather necessary documentation/information and then invite Mr. Barton and Mr. Ryals to attend the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting later into the process for review and questions.

Additionally, an outline of the vision for combining Chapter 11 (Subdivisions) with Chapter 20 (Land Divisions) will be created. Staff will engage with the surveying community and the Assessor, potentially as a workshop with the Commission for feedback. After a draft is prepared, staff and the Commission can revisit the Health District discussion and determine whether a second visit would be beneficial.

For combining Chapters 11 and Chapter 20, Chapter 11 has seven different types of platted land divisions, simple primitive and 20-acre exemptions. Chapter 20 is four additional land divisions options, including simple/primitive, parcel line adjustments, and exemptions. Planning staff would like to put them all together into a single chapter of just two categories instead of eleven. These would be combined into short plats of four or fewer lots and regular plat of more than four plats. Short plats would be processed administratively for up to four lots, with final review by the Board of Boundary County Commissioners. Lot line adjustments would be processed through administrative review, with final review by the BOCC. Subdivision standards would be based on the underlying zoning. Sections 11 and 20 would be combined into a single subdivision section within the County Code. The 20-acre exemption would be clarified to state that all divisions and adjustments of 20 acres or greater are exempt. Primitive/simple parcel divisions would be consolidated into a single category of four lots or fewer, or alternatively considered under a simple short plat process.

Ms. Marley presented design criteria suggestions from previous discussions that would be implemented. These included requiring a depth-to-width ratio or a minimum depth and/or width and require an angle of lot line intersection standard with road.

 

The Commissioners requested staff develop standard width and construction minimums for private easements in coordination with Road & Bridge. In Boundary County, a road serves more than two homes, lots, or parcels, while anything serving fewer is considered a driveway. Private roads will require approaches to be built to public standards, a minimum travel width of 20 feet, a minimum easement width of 30 feet, a vertical clearance of 13.5 feet, and a maximum slope of 8%, with allowances for variation. Street and stop signs will be paid for by the developer. Roads must be completed prior to final plat approval and designed to accommodate either an 80,000-pound load or the imposed weight of responding fire apparatus, depending on recommendations from Road and Bridge since standards have changed. Sight distance and brush clearing will be the responsibility of the developer. Roads will be gravel surfaced unless higher-density development requires an alternative standard. Photographs may be submitted to document completion, with engineer verification preferred.

 

UPDATES & ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Ms. Vogel provided updates on topics and files scheduled for the July 23, 2026, meeting. The Commission decided to postpone training to the July meeting. A discussion was held regarding new Idaho legislation addressing land access by governmental officials without a warrant or invitation from the property owner.

 

ADJOURNMENT: Chair Davis declared the meeting adjourned at 6:34 p.m.

 

 

_/s/________________________________                                                                                                         

Caleb Davis, Chair                                                                                       Date:

Boundary County Planning & Zoning Commission