Brakes temporarily put on proposed Wolf Lodge Bay development

The owner of a dock building company has been asked to provide further details to a hearing examiner about his proposal to construct a dock and possibly a building at Wolf Lodge Bay.

John Condon, whose brother is Spokane Mayor David Condon, has sought Kootenai County permission to rezone a half-acre that he owns on the shoreline near state Highway 27. The dock would help his business, North Idaho Maritime, more easily load and unload dock-building materials and equipment.

Finding a suitable place has become more difficult as logging and other commercial marinas around the lake have closed or been turned into developments, John Condon’s planner has said previously.

Some neighbors and an Idaho environmental group have expressed worry that the proposed dock would damage kokanee salmon spawning beds, hurt the annual bald eagle migration and cause traffic problems.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game neither supported nor opposed the zone change and noted that the proposed development is not within an area where kokanee spawn, although the fish do spawn nearby.

The hearing examiner, Joan Woodard, considered the case May 16 and on May 30 asked John Condon for a better explanation of the dock’s proposed future uses and any limits on those uses, said Vlad Finkel, the county planner handling the case.

The request for more details is a first for Finkel, who has worked in the planning department since 2008.

“It’s a very unique determination,” he said. “I have not seen one of those.”

The piece of shoreline property is part of a larger 108-acre parcel that is zoned restricted-residential. A rezone would change the half-acre’s designation to commercial.

Condon has until Aug. 28 to provide a draft conditional zoning agreement to the examiner, who will make a recommendation to the Kootenai Board of County Commissioners. The board will then vote on the proposed zone change.

Rand Wichman, a planner hired by Condon, did not return calls requesting comment.