With a hearing regarding an amendment to Cat Creek Energy Development Agreement scheduled for August 24 at 2:30 p.m at the Elmore County Courthouse, we thought you might like to know what these types of agreements are all about.
This is what Idaho says about development agreements:
TITLE 67
STATE GOVERNMENT AND STATE AFFAIRS
CHAPTER 65
LOCAL LAND USE PLANNING
67-6511A. DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS. Each governing board may, by ordinance adopted or amended in accordance with the notice and hearing provisions provided under section 67-6509, Idaho Code, require or permit as a condition of rezoning that an owner or developer make a written commitment concerning the use or development of the subject parcel.
The governing board shall adopt ordinance provisions governing the creation, form, recording, modification, enforcement and termination of conditional commitments.
Such commitments shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder and shall take effect upon the adoption of the amendment to the zoning ordinance.
Unless modified or terminated by the governing board after a public hearing, a commitment is binding on the owner of the parcel, each subsequent owner, and each other person acquiring an interest in the parcel. A commitment is binding on the owner of the parcel even if it is unrecorded; however, an unrecorded commitment is binding on a subsequent owner or other person acquiring an interest in the parcel only if that subsequent owner or other person has actual notice of the commitment.
A commitment may be modified only by the permission of the governing board after complying with the notice and hearing provisions of section 67-6509, Idaho Code.
A commitment may be terminated, and the zoning designation upon which the use is based reversed, upon the failure of the requirements in the commitment after a reasonable time as determined by the governing board or upon the failure of the owner; each subsequent owner or each other person acquiring an interest in the parcel to comply with the conditions in the commitment and after complying with the notice and hearing provisions of section 67-6509, Idaho Code.
By permitting or requiring commitments by ordinance the governing board does not obligate itself to recommend or adopt the proposed zoning ordinance. A written commitment shall be deemed written consent to rezone upon the failure of conditions imposed by the commitment in accordance with the provisions of this section.
Reference: https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title67/T67CH65/SECT67-6511A/
Elmore County and Cat Creek Energy are so overtly duplicitous they even have the audacity to try to evade oversight and compliance with the above noted Title 67 Idaho State Law by declaring in Section 13.2 of the so-called Development Agreement “This Agreement is not a Development Agreement pursuant to IC 67-6511A (the above cited Idaho Law) but rather an agreement as a condition of the CUPs.” (Conditional Use Permits)
First the County Commissioners ignore elements of county law governing development in the Elmore County Comprehensive Plan to approve this disastrous CCE project and then move to skirt Idaho State IC 67-6511A rule-of-law by saying the Development Agreement is NOT a Development Agreement.
This is an almost textbook example of the local Good ‘Ol Boy network participating in a boondoggle with Cat Creek Energy on the citizens of Elmore County and the State of Idaho at the expense of the pristine, unique and unrecoverable ecosystem of the Camas Prairie.
Tell Cat Creek to go back to doing what they’ve done for years. Raise cattle and sheep and stop trying to destroy our natural beauty for a few dollars