P&Z - What Counts as a Dwelling?
On Monday, February 24th, the Adams County Commissioners met for the third meeting of the month. Commissioner Daren Ward was present via phone.
Meredith Fisher, With Planning and Zoning, said that Mountain Origins, who is working on Brundage, has submitted their final plat application for a portion of Phase 1B. There are 30 days to make sure the application is correct before the technical review period. Fisher also asked the commissioners about an extension to an existing boundary line encroachment. A construction company has a client with a 1.07 acre parcel in Indian Valley who has an already existing shop that is only 7’ from the fence line. They want to extend the shop 50-60’, “not making the problem worse, just making it longer,” said Fisher. The commissioners thought it sounded very close and they should apply for a variance and go through that process. Commissioner Iveson was concerned about the neighboring property and thought the variance process would allow them a chance to have a say. Commissioner Viki Purdy asked if they had a survey on the property and Fisher said no, not yet. Purdy thought that would be a good idea to get as well.
Finally, Fisher said there was a gentleman with over 300 acres in two parcels that wanted to put cabins and yurts on it and make a campground with a conditional use permit. He was wondering if the cabins and yurts count as dwellings because he also wanted to do a home for his family and kids. The commissioners asked if they would be dry cabins. Fisher said yes, but there would be a bathroom facility. They are also interested in RV Hookups. The policy has always been that you can dry camp with an RV. If it is hooked up, it does count as a dwelling, and you can have up to two dwellings. The property owner was talking about putting in an RV pad with a yard water pump but no septic, and does that count as a dwelling? The commissioners thought that didn’t count as a dwelling at first and they should go off the septic, but it was somewhat of a grey area. Fisher talked about some of the history and some of the problems they have had in these sorts of situations. She wondered if it was time to codify things and maybe make things more specific. County Prosecutor, Peter Donavan, said he would look into it as well. Fisher thought they might be seeing a lot more RV park type situations in the future considering how expensive housing is currently. Commissioner Iveson thought they should look at what Valley County is doing regarding yurts, because he thought they had a lot of yurts. Commissioner Purdy thought they should look at the septic side and check the rules with Southwest District Health. Commissioner Iveson said it was his least favorite part of the job, telling people what they could and could not do on their own property. Regardless, a campground has to have a conditional use permit, so there will be some oversight.
Steve Shelton, with Solid Waste, asked about getting a conex at the Recycling Center to put the new forklift in so no one messes with it. Commissioner Iveson asked if he had priced one yet, Shelton said no. Iveson gave him some ideas where to look. The forklift will arrive in March.
Adam Balderson, with Road and Bridge, asked if the county had ever used the Sourcewell website. Clerk Sherry Ward said yes. Balderson said he had heard they could buy a brand new loader new cheaper than used there with the government discount. He was looking and they were around 30% off for a loader that was over $100,000. Commissioner Iveson sounded excited and they talked about other items that might be available at a discount.
Sheriff Ryan Zollman said there are 24 state inmates and 2 county. He asked about an audit on the accounts, he said they are being requested documents to audit the Sheriff’s, commissary, and inmates accounts. Zollman said that the commissary is the inmates’ money for their stuff. He mentioned the Chirping devices that they buy, which are like a cell phone, but they can’t make calls, but can send texts or “chirps.” It costs the inmates 75 cents for each text message and they will spend hundreds of dollars. The county can utilize the information for sentencing and have used the information in prosecutions in the past. “Chirps are absolutely wonderful,” said Zollman, “There’s nothing better than confessions in writing, and we’ve gotten several of those!”
The commissioners finished the meeting with two executive sessions.
