Lewiston P&Z OKs port request

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Re-platting of Harry Wall Industrial Park would create 15 new building lots

By CALLEY HAIR of the Tribune

The Port of Lewiston received a green light Wednesday for a request to create 15 new building lots on the south side of State Highway 128 in a unanimous decision from the Lewiston Planning and Zoning Commission.

The port now awaits approval from the city council, Lewiston City Planner Joel Plaskon said.

If granted, the re-platting of the area gives the port more freedom in how to distribute the individual lots, located between Highway 128 and the Clearwater River west of the Nez Perce County Jail.

“We’ve reached the point now that while we could lease the property up there, we couldn’t sell the property up there because we need to re-plat,” Port Manager David Doeringsfeld said. “We’re up against the wall.”

The re-platting would give the port authority to sell the lots, which total 46.8 acres and are sized between 1.2 acres and 4.7 acres each.
“We will sell or lease depending on the needs of that business,” Doeringsfeld said.

The lots are part of the port zoning district, a region that has plenty of leeway in how property can be used. Chemical storage, manufacturing and petroleum distribution are all allowed, although any use that creates a noise, smoke or odor nuisance is prohibited per city code.

“The (city has) very flexible development standards of the port zoning district,” Plaskon said. “There aren’t really many at all.”

The lots make up the Harry Wall Industrial Park, consisting of just more than 86 acres the Port of Lewiston began gradually acquiring in the early 1980s from the Harry Wall estate, Doeringsfeld said. The park also includes two tracts of land, a 9.6-acre piece on the southwest side and a 30.1-acre parcel on the east side, that are unsuitable for industrial development because of their topography.

“It takes a while in an area this large to re-plat it, so we’ve been at it several months now, but we’re starting to come to a conclusion,” Doeringsfeld said.

In other business Wednesday:

– The commission denied a request for encroachment into the required 20-foot minimum front yard setback in order to build a new enclosed front door entryway for a home at 3837 16th St. The request was denied on grounds it didn’t meet the appropriate criteria for granting an exception to the rule, although Commissioner Gayle McGarry said he disapproved of the commission’s decision. The surrounding houses had already broken the encroachment rule without asking permission, he said, so the commission shouldn’t punish the resident for following the rules.

“Why can’t we just ease up a little bit?” McGarry said.

– The commission unanimously approved a request to rezone property owned by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod at 3707 14th St. from low-density residential to community commercial. The request now awaits approval of the Lewiston City Council, Plakson said. The property is located adjacent to the site of an existing project to build a roundabout at the intersection of Thain Road, Powers Avenue and 14th Street.

– Commissioners unanimously approved an application to allow Bumblebee Daycare, a family childcare facility located on 234 Larkspur Lane, to expand to a group childcare facility. Their approval is contingent on the owners childproofing the gates surrounding the house. This expansion would allow the day care to look after up to 12 children, double the limit of a family childcare facility.
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Hair may be contacted at [email protected] or (208) 848-2274.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]