January 2009 Council Meeting.

Issue 1: Whether to grant vacation of the unused public streets, Daisy and Monroe, to the Sandpoint Charter School.

Rule 1: Vacations are granted when they are in the best interest of the public.

Analysis 1: This was two separate requests. Both streets are unused and adjacent to property owned by the Sandpoint Charter School. The Sandpoint Charter School would like to expand their facilities. In order to preserve their field, the School requested that the City vacate these two streets.

Streets to the east and south are narrow rights of way. Problematically, one of the main streets accessing the Sandpoint Charter School is one way. This area is experiencing significant growth. Generally, I am hesitant to vacate public rights of way as it is impossible to determine how important those rights of way will be in the future.

Conclusion 1: I voted against both vacation requests because I don't believe that they are in the best interest of Sandpoint from a very long-term perspective. I sincerely hope that the Sandpoint Charter School continues to pursue options to expand as I think that they do an excellent job.


Issue 2: Whether to adopt an ordinance that requires backflow devices and testing.

Rule 2: Backflow prevention devices stop contaminated water from flowing back into the drinking water of the City. Since the City's water supply is a loop, any contaminated water would potentially effect the entire City of Sandpoint. The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality requires municipalities to have measures to prevent backflow.

Analysis 2: This ordinance requires certain municipal water users to install backflow devices and test them regularly. For the most part, the ordinance affects businesses because business users are more likely to operate equipment with the potential to backflow. However, homes with radiant boilers and underground irrigation systems would also likely be affected by this ordinance.

Conclusion 2: I voted in favor of the ordinance as it is required by DEQ.

December 2008 Council Meeting

Issue 1: Whether to change the commercial zoning within the City to resemble the zoning regulations already in effect on 5th Avenue as an interim zoning measure.

Rule 1: Current commercial zoning standards do not reflect the vision outlined in the draft Comprehensive Plan ("Comp Plan"). The City has a special commercial zone along 5th Avenue, the 5th Avenue Overlay, which contains stricter requirements for building within the 5th Avenue area.

Analysis 1: After completing work on the Sandpoint Comprehensive Plan ("Comp Plan"), it is apparent that crafting new zoning regulations will be a long process. It is possible that these regulations wouldn't go into effect for over a year. The City already has in place some regulations which more closely resemble the goals of the draft Comp Plan in the 5th Avenue Overlay.

The 5th Avenue Overlay zone was put into place to protect one of the main corridors in Sandpoint. It has special measures not contained in other zones such as increased window area, building orientation and varied roof pitches. As evidence of how the new commercial regulations are working, you can view the new construction projects along 5th Avenue.

It appears optimistic to me that the City Council will adopt new commercial zoning regulations this year. I believe that the 5th Avenue Overlay zone generally works fairly well without hindering construction too much.

Conclusion 1: I voted in favor of extending measures similar to the 5th Avenue Overlay to all commercial zoning within the City of Sandpoint. This was merely a vote to pursue the concept. The City Council will review the specific interim zoning measures in ordinance form after passage by the Planning and Zoning Commission.