The Pend Oreille County Commissioners voted down the rezone Amendment 18 that would have paved the way for the smelter.
This was quite a surprise to us, but this is far from being over. From the beginning, PacWest depended on the County to rezone the
property for them. CANSS has said all along; No Rezone = No Smelter. Everything has been contingent on the rezoning of the
proposed site in order to build the Smelter and it still is. The County Commissioners’ decision to reject the rezoned amendment proves the County has done a lot of research on the project. The Commissioners mentioned during the announcement of the decision on the amendment that rezoning would be addressed in the Comp Plan Rewrite.
We, the citizens know that PacWest is not to be trusted. They’ve proven to break every single promise made and never followed
through with anything. Several group members ask if the fight against the Smelter is over and if not what’s next. CANSS takes the
position that as long as PacWest owns the property, they are a threat!
Our current focus is on Pend Oreille County’s Comprehensive Plan Rewrite. This rewrite is vitally important to every landowner
within the county, PacWest being one of them. The Planning Commission is doing a good job of due diligence but we must
remember that their recommendations are just that, the County Commissioners have the final say in this. It is obvious that the
Public land use designation is going away; it will most likely be replaced by a rural designation.
We encourage landowners to be familiar with the proposed zoning changes in the future land use maps and stay informed. The Comp Plan is in its final stages with Pend Oreille County Planning Commission working out the details on holding Public Meetings via Zoom. The draft is available for review at the Pend Oreille County Website. https://pendoreilleco.org/2020-comprehensive-plan-update/
No Smelter! Not Now, Not Ever!
Watch the video fo the meeting below:
