Teton Valley commissioners call for development moratorium
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
By Ben Cannon
Teton County, Idaho, commissioners called for a moratorium on all
development for the next six months at Monday evening's meeting that
went on until 1 a.m. Tuesday morning. In the end, commissioners voted
2-1 in favor of the moratorium.
“It was an emergency
moratorium,” said Commissioner Alice Stevenson, who first proposed a
hold on all new rezoning, subdivision and other land use applications –
“with some exceptions” – at Monday’s afternoon meeting.
“The
straw that broke the camel’s back for me is that our deputy planning
administrator resigned last Tuesday,” Stevenson said. The planner was
the third person in as many years to vacate that position. “She said
her work load had doubled from December ’06 to March ’07.”
By
statute, an emergency ordinance such as a moratorium can be issued only
in response to an “imminent peril to public health, safety, or
welfare,” Stevenson explained.
“I think it’s really a travesty
to this county,” said Nolan Boyle, executive director with the Teton
Valley Alliance, a group that advocates for landowners’ rights. “It has
nothing to do with moratoriums or land use or lot splits. The travesty
is the wedge that it drives right down the middle of our valley. It
pits neighbor against neighbor.”
Stevenson and Commission
Chairman Larry Young voted in favor of the moratorium. Commissioner
Mark Trupp voted against the measure.
The moratorium,
which can last for a maximum of 182 days, could also be called off
before that time by vote of the county commission.
“During that
time, the intent is to work on a lot of planning tasks,” Stevenson said
Tuesday. “[Before] we could not quite get everything accomplished,
because we are so inundated with development applications.”
Teton
County adopted a comprehensive plan in 2004 that still lacks many of
the appropriate ordinances to mirror its language.
Tuesday
night’s meeting saw a mass of vocal opposition, including nearly 80
people who signed up to speak against a moratorium, though not all of
them actually addressed the county commission.
PERMALINK:
Teton Valley commissioners call for development moratorium | Planet JH News Article: General News
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