Council votes on property designation

KELLOGG — After months of discussion and presentations, the Kellogg City Council voted in favor of moving forward with a special designation for various areas of Government Gulch.

City Project Manager Rod Plank explained that the areas in question are remediated properties up Government Gulch as well as the area referred to as the Slag Pile Area on the west end of the Central Impoundment Area.

These areas will now be designated specifically as “manufacturing/industrial development” as they pertain to future planning efforts — this determination was made following an extensive study and reporting done on behalf of the City Council by Whiskey Rock Planning & Consulting.

“These two areas, which were once part of the Bunker Hill Mine complex, are currently under the control of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality,” Plank previously explained. “They comprise approximately 50 acres of land that will eventually be available for development.”

According to Plank, designating the land as manufacturing/industrial development, “will allow the city continuing access to federal funding for planning and design while still allowing for limited housing development opportunities for privately funded projects.”

Both areas were at one time part of the Bunker Hill Mine complex and are now under the control of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and are roughly 50 acres in total.

The DEQ has explored several potential options for the lands, including hosting a series of public meetings in 2019 where presentations were made concerning some of these specific properties and led discussions on how to use them.

Diversifying the economy and increasing the local tax base, increasing jobs, local services, and amenities, increased workforce housing and recreational amenities were all part of those discussions.

The current efforts were funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration through the Panhandle Area Council with the intentions of guiding the future planning and zoning decisions and according to Plank, the ultimate redevelopment of these areas.