Corner Fox Industrial Approval Reopened

DRIGGS — Teton County commissioners voted 2-1 on July 27 to reopen their approval of a Highway 33 industrial redesignation, sending the Corner Fox comprehensive plan amendment back for a new public hearing two weeks after they granted it.

The commissioners approved the redesignation of the 14.25-acre parcels on July 13, overriding their own planning commission and the City of Driggs. They did not sign that decision into a resolution. On July 27 they postponed the resolution and directed the Planning and Zoning Commission to re-notice the hearing.

Commissioner Dan Powers, who had moved to deny the amendment in July, moved to reopen it. Commissioner Brad Wolfe seconded. Commissioner Ron James, who carried the July approval, opposed, saying, "We're setting a pattern that every decision we made now is coming up for reconsideration."

The City of Driggs submitted a written objection before the July 13 hearing, and it did not reach the commissioners' packet. County Planning Administrator Joshua Chase apologized to the board and to Driggs for the omission, and the county attorney advised that reopening put the board on "the safest legal footing."

Kathy Rinaldi, a former county commissioner who served on the board that adopted the current comprehensive plan, submitted a letter urging reconsideration and spoke against the amendment. Her letter argues the July approval rested on the applicant's claim to a legal, grandfathered use. She disputes that claim, citing the county's own records.

Those records begin in January 2015, when the county prosecutor sent Aaron Powers, who represents Corner Fox LLC, a letter titled "Illegal Uses," telling him his operation on the parcels violated county code and ordering him to stop and return the land to its natural state. The letter listed four violations, from unpermitted material processing to recreational vehicles used for housing. Powers applied for a conditional use permit the next year; county planning staff told the 2016 hearing he was out of compliance, and the permit was not granted. Whether the county took further action on the violations before this year's vote is not clear from the public record.

The application now before the board describes that same operation as a legal, grandfathered use. Corner Fox LLC traces it to about 1930, when the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company stored limestone on the parcels, and calls the redesignation a return to the site's history. The county's 2015 letter and 2016 staff report had treated the current operation as an expansion beyond the site's one grandfathered use, storing rock and equipment.

Nikki Richards, speaking for Valley Advocates for Responsible Development, said the packet was incomplete and asked the commissioners to reconsider. Driggs Mayor August Christensen asked the board to rehear the item.

What to watch: The county has not scheduled the re-noticed Corner Fox hearing. The redesignation stays in place until the commissioners act after it. The county's comprehensive plan rewrite is expected to begin in the coming months.

Commissioners Reopen the Corner Fox Comprehensive Plan Amendment

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