The Courier
NEWS
Spring Break at the Faulkner Planetarium
The College of Southern Idaho’s Faulkner Planetarium is announcing a Fulldome Film Festival March 23-27. During which time, the planetarium will be offering 21 show times and 21 different shows. There will be something for everyone on the schedule with animated fulldome shows, giant screen cinema films, rock and roll light shows, and other programming covering topics like astronomy, exploration, geology, meteorology, paleontology, plus pure entertainment. Guests will get the opportunity to experience shows that they may not have seen in a long time or shows that they have yet to experience. In addition to the planetarium’s regular schedule during the school year, there will also be shows at 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday during spring break. Planetarium manager Rick Greenawald says, “If you can’t physically escape southern Idaho for spring break, then come over to the planetarium and experience a virtual escape. You can escape to the south Pacific, Mars, other planets, the stars, or escape reality in one of the rock shows!” In accordance with current Idaho Stage 3 re-opening guidelines, planetarium seating is limited to 50 guests per show and social distancing is practiced in the theater. The College of Southern Idaho requires all guests to wear facial coverings. continued on page 7...
Anglers Can Help with Fishing Seasons
By Roger Phillips, Public Information Supervisor Fish and Game is preparing for season setting for 2022-24 and asking anglers what changes they would like to see for the upcoming seasons. Starting March 25, anglers can go to the fishing seasons webpage and suggest changes for each region. Each region will have informational videos about season setting, as well as online comment forms. Fish and Game regions will also host a series of online meetings in late March and April to help answer questions for anglers and provide more details. Those meetings will also be recorded and posted online so anglers can watch them at a later date. Afterward, Fish and Game will compile a list of proposed changes and present them to the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, which will then approve or change those proposals. After the commission approves proposals, they will be sent back out for another round of public comment, which will take place during summer. For more information call your local Fish and Game regional office.
News from the Heart of Idaho Camas • Lincoln • Gooding
March 24, 2021
Vol 45 Num 12
Planning & Zoning What Do The Designations Mean?
Recently, there have been several rezone requests listed in the legal notices. One of our readers asked a question regarding zoning designations, specifically “what do they mean?” Without this information it is difficult for the average person to know whether they should support or oppose such a request. The first thing to understand is that all rezone requests (other than commercial) are based on the residential use of a particular piece of property. In general, zones are considered “more restrictive” if the zone requires a large amount of land to build a house, and “less restrictive” if the zoning allows a house to be built on a smaller piece of land. For example, there is currently a request in the Soldier Creek area of Camas County for a rezone from Ag-80 to R-1. Ag-80 means you are required to have 80 acres before you can build a house. Since this parcel is only about 50 acres, getting a permit to build a house might be difficult (it is restrictive). Rezoning this property to R-1 would allow houses to be built on parcels as small as one acre (less restrictive). Given the nature of this area, it is unlikely that the entire property would be subdivide into one acres parcels, but R-1 zoning allows any size parcels as long as they are larger than one acre. The second thing to know about zoning is that although cities and counties might use similar designations, they don’t usually mean the same thing. In counties, R-1 generally means one house per acre (R-2 and R-4, two/four houses per acre). In cities, R-1 means one single-family home per lot - a lot being between an 1/8 to a 1/4 of an acre. Designitions such as R-2 or R-4 usually refer to multi-family housing - duplexes and/or apartment buildings. For another example, the request in Fairfield to rezone a block within the city from R-1 (restrictive) to R-4 (less restrictive) would allow the landowner to build multi-family housing as well as single-family homes. Most of the time, rezone requests are for a change from a restrictive zone to a less restrictive zone, but not always. The Camas County Commissioners recently approved a rezone on the east end of the county from Ag-5 to Ag-80. While the main reason was to allow a private airport, an additional goal was to restrict residential development in that area.