Caribou County PZ meets with cities about Impact Area
On the agenda for last week’s county Planning and Zoning meeting was a scheduled discussion with representatives from the cities of Grace and Soda Springs about the Area of Impact. The Area of Impact is mandated by the state of Idaho under Cods 67-6526, and represents the area outside of a city where growth is anticipated. State law requires cities and counties to coordinate on boundaries, comprehensive plans, and zoning regulations.
County PZ members Tim Gaines, Adam Hulse, Tiffany Labrouche, and Chairperson Noel Cole spoke about various concerns with the two cities.
Members of the Grace PZ commission were present, and shared their input.
Bart Benson spoke for Grace, noting that the city’s primary concern was its ability to maintain and safeguard its infrastructure against future development. The city’s wells and springs are to the east of town, which would be in the new area of impact.
To the north of the city, they would like to see the current boundary maintained because it is a natural separation, and they don’t anticipate a lot of growth there.
One of the requirements of the code is that the Area of Impact line is not more than two miles outside of city limits. Currently, the line is a little east of the 2 mile limit. The County PZ board believed that there are reasons to warrant that.
Benson believed that the likelihood of the city annexing the area to the east of Harwood road was very low.
County PZ Administrator Helen Barker noted that the Area of Impact was primarily used for planning growth and allowing cities to annex areas, but not infrastructure. The city reiterated its position that it wants to be able to protect that water access as a primary concern. The way that the Area of Impact is written into Code, it is not possible for another entity to supersede the city’s infrastructure or resource rights to property in its possession.
Lee Wilkerson of Grace PZ brought the historically observed town boundaries into the discussion.
This discussion preceded to cover some changes to the proposal that had been draw by the PZ board to meet state requirements, which will be added before it is presented to the Board of County Commissioners. The proposed area would draw down the boundary to the river on the north side, and adjust the lines on the south and east to be more in line with the practical utility of the land.
One of the principles of the Area of Impact is that it pave the way for infrastructure to move into areas ahead of or concurrent with development. Since putting in city water and sewer to the north of the river or at elevation to the east is impractical the boundaries will be further discussed.
City of Soda Springs
Daniel Larsen and Charles Fryar (PZ) spoke to similar issues for Soda Springs. “We appreciate the partnership between the county and city,” Larsen said.
The Area of Impact was not extended far to the east of town, which the two had questions about. According to County PZ, this is largely because of the railroad tracks, which might create an expensive obstacle to moving water and sewer beneath.
It was noted that growth on that side of town was likely to be an issue down the road, though Larsen and Fryar did not think it would likely be a major issue in the next five years. It was also noted that if it became more of an issue, the two entities could fairly quickly work to clarify/change the Area of Impact to account for it.
The area to the south of town was considered most likely to expand, and the Area of Impact map does reflect that.
Chairperson Cole noted that the map would give the county a good starting point for when developers approach them
Larsen was not aware of any plans to annex anything into the city.
It was clarified that Helen Barker is the point person for Code Enforcement in the county, by way of PZ related code infractions.
Barker stated “I love hearing what the city is doing, and they’re having an open dialog between us.”
