Proposed gas station at Dufort and Vay roads headed to BOCC for a second time

By Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey Reader Staff

A rezone proposal for a gas station and other amenities to be built at the intersection of Dufort and Vay roads, southeast of Priest River, will go before the Bonner County commissioners for a second time on Wednesday, June 14, after the previous board remanded the file back to the Planning Department in December 2022, encouraging the property owners to also file for a Comprehensive Plan map amendment and to be more detailed in their plans for the site.

Property owners Sean and Laura Hammond, of Priest River, are applying for a Comp Plan map amendment from Rural Residential to Neighborhood Commercial and a zone change from Rural-5 to Rural Service Center on about 12 acres just south of Willow Bay Resort.

Application documents show plans for a gas station, convenience store, boat storage and five residential lots of approximately one-acre each on the property.

According to the amendment application narrative, written by Jeremy Grimm of Whiskey Rock Planning + Consulting on behalf of the Hammonds, growth at Willow Bay Resort and the surrounding neighborhood has made it so “many area residents and visitors demand a variety of commercial retail services including gas/fuel sales