October 6, 2008
- Lewiston, Idaho
Commissioners approve development, hear about overcrowding at jail
Developer Lew Mangum addresses Asotin County Commissioners Monday. By Stephanie Smith
ASOTIN - It was a busy Asotin County Commissioners meeting Monday, with a full house on hand, as concerned neighbors came out for a preliminary action concerning a new Clarkston Heights Development.
Developer Lew Mangum plans to put 29 homes on an 8-acre lot off of Reservoir and Critchfield Roads. But the neighbors are not happy about it. The planning commission gave it's approval at a meeting on July 1. "Public comment letters were submitted as well as a petition from the neighborhood," said Karst Riggers, Asotin Co. Building Official and Planner. "So you have the petition as well as about a half dozen individual comment letters as well. They were submitted to the planning commission for the record." Mangum was on hand to defend his project. "They are going to be in the high-end, I think the covenant is no less than 1,000 square feet, they've got to have dormers on them," said Mangum. "Just brand new and high-end homes." Some residents are concerned about how the new development will be connected to sewer, which in the event of their septic tanks failing will force existing homeowners to do a pricey connect. Another point of contention is that 24th Street is a dead end with a basketball hoop and neighbors loving the culdesac lifestyle. But as part of this project, the Asotin County Fire District along with letters of support from Clarkston and Lewiston Fire, wants to make it a through street into the new development. "I know everybody says all those people up by the water tanks, they will go down Bridgewood and that's true," said resident Jerry Parish. "Anybody on the south side they are all coming down there and they told us they would probably go through there on 24th. And the same thing on the other end of 24th on the south end, they are going right straight through. Another neighbor, Ed Novak, presented a second petition, signed by 96 residents, which is all but one homeowner in the area. "To date none of the issues raised were adequately addressed, discussed or explained to residents," said Novak. " Why? When will petition signers, residents of Asotin County, be taken seriously?" Commissioners Doug Mattoon and Buck Lane gave preliminary approved to a culdesac version of the development. Commissioner Don Brown who lives in the neighborhood, voted against the approval. Also on the agenda Monday - the Asotin County Jail. It's full and jail officials say something needs to be done "We've been running at emergency capacity for the last 18 months," said Jon Singleton, jail commander. Singleton told commissionaires the Sheriff's Office is taking a tough stance on crime and that has led to overcrowding. "It's actually quite humorous to see a criminal come in and ask if the jail is full," said Singleton. "'Yes it is.' That means I'm leaving right? 'No it doesn't. We have a nice spot for you on the floor.'" Singleton said Asotin County has the state's highest per capita rate of domestic violence and that the lack of jail space means some abusers are not ending up where they should be. "I'm reporting as the jail commander that we've pretty much reached our limit as far as holding people accountable and there is a lot more folks out there that are getting away with this stuff that really shouldn't be." With the jail packed, Singleton said they would like to start a misdemeanor probation office. He says this could help keep track of criminals and keep them from re-offending. "With the misdemeanor probation office, we would like to supervise inmates in alternatives to pre-trial and conviction incarceration," said Singleton. "Our home monitoring program basically simply works for post conviction people now." The program would require the county to hire an additional entry officer for about $47,000. The commissioners made no decision on the issue. Also at Monday's meeting, commissioners discussed putting an EMS levy on the ballot to the tune of 50 cents per $1,000 of property value. And Butch Aiken presented the bids for mobile data terminals for police cars, awarding the $28,000 contract to Robo-View. |
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