The Fremont County Planning and Building Department is proposing important changes to the Fremont County Development Code. Check out the proposed changes HERE.

OK, LET’S LEARN MORE ABOUT WHY THE PROPOSED CHANGES MATTER:

The Fremont County Comprehensive Plan is a guiding document developed by the County, with extensive public input, mandated by Idaho’s Local Land Use Planning Act. The Comprehensive Plan is designed to promote health, safety, and the general welfare of the community and represents the community’s vision of how growth and land use development should occur now and into the future.

The first Comprehensive Plan for Fremont County was adopted in 1995 and updated in 1997, 2003, and 2008, with amendments approved in 2019. It has been 17 years since the last update was adopted and 6 years since the last amendments were approved. The current plan is woefully overdue for updates. Fremont County residents were told last fall that an update to the Comprehensive Plan was upcoming. In fact, the County has allocated funding for that update in the budget for this current Fiscal Year.

While the County is showing no signs of initiating the Comprehensive Plan update, it has proposed changes to another important document, the Fremont County Development Code. As discussed, the Comprehensive Plan is an important guide, but it doesn’t actually have any legal teeth of its own. So, ordinances like the Development Code are created to implement the Comprehensive Plan, acting as  the legally binding, nitty-gritty rules that determine how growth and development happens on the ground.

So, a question should be raised…why is the County is proposing changes to the legally binding rules of development without first updating the guiding document that the rules are meant to uphold? There is also a concern, given some of the inappropriate development projects considered last year for the rural base zoning of the Henrys Lake Flats of Island Park (including a private fly-in airpark community and large hotel/conference center), that the County is out of touch with the public that they serve. During the 2008 update of the Comprehensive Plan, community meetings resulted in a Vision Statement showing the special character of this amazing place and its people. Here are some quotes from that statement:

• “Fremont County delivers a strong sense of place to its residents, containing an appreciation of heritage and a feeling of spiritual sanctuary. We value the peace and quiet, and easy-going style of Fremont County.”
• “Fremont County values the clear air, water, and night sky, as well as the scenic vistas and recreation opportunities the outdoors provides. We value fish and wildlife, for hunting and fishing but also for viewing, and recognize that maintaining and enhancing wildlife habitat is key to sustaining these resources.”
• “Fremont County values active participation in our democracy, and we enjoy transparent government, with easy access to local officials.
• “Profitable family operated working farms and ranches are essential to maintain the rural western heritage and culture of Fremont County.”

Let’s make sure that residents’ identities and voices are recognized and that the unique character of Fremont County endures into the future with an updated Comprehensive Plan, developed through extensive public input. Only then should amendments to the Development Code be discussed. It’s up to us as Fremont County residents to stand up and demand that our voices are heard.

On May 19, the Fremont County Planning and Zoning Commission were unable to reach a consensus vote on whether or not to approve the proposed amendments. The decision was tabled until the scheduled Planning and Zoning Commission meeting at 6:00pm on June 2, 2025. In the meantime, the Commissioners will be reviewing important sections of the Idaho Code and legal rulings to see if they can decide on what action to take. We’ll keep you posted on any new developments!