P&Z vote ‘no confidence’ in Pearce

Published by admin on Wed, 06/25/2025 - 7:00pm
By: 
Dylan Brown
The Washington County Planning and Zoning Commission wants a new lawyer. 
 At a meeting June 17, the committee unanimously approved a vote of no confidence in Washington County Prosecutor True Pearce.
 It’s the latest in the fight over residential development on farm ground in Washington County – a long-simmering battle that frequently boils over in bitter disputes between neighbors. But  Debbie Warren, a commission member from Cambridge, called the current situation unprecedented.
 “I find this a very sad state of affairs that we would ever have to come to this,” she said. 
 The blame fell on Pearce, who was not at the meeting. 
 “He has a record of threats and intimidation in this building,” said Planning and Zoning Chairman Ron Jaeger, who recently received a warning letter from Pearce about potential criminal prosecution for his role in drafting a moratorium on ag land development.
 Pearce has yet to publicly address the vote. At the meeting, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Sean Jorgensen declined to comment for his boss, who he said was out of town.
 Washington County Commissioners have spent years wrestling with whether county code gives property owners an inherent right to build on every 20 acres of farm land and bypass the rezoning process. 
 Ag preservation is a stated political priority in Washington County, but inherently treads on private property rights. Twenty-acre splits have become the flashpoint for that conflict, which divides powerful county Republicans and mired the county in litigation.
 On May 5, Pearce formally notified the commissioners that his office had written a memorandum of opinion to clarify his predecessor’s “shifting interpretations” of county code after “hundreds of hours” of analysis. 
 The memo, which has not been made public, allows 20-acre splits. Pearce also entered into the public record a legal opinion from Boise law firm Holland & Hart, which concurred with his findings and contradicted two previous legal briefs that former prosecutor Delton Walker had obtained from Givens Pursley LLP. 
 On May 12, the commissioners directed county Planning and Zoning Administrator Bonnie Brent-Dowell to work under Pearce’s interpretation.
 After public outcry, the commissioners imposed a temporary moratorium on farmland development, effective from May 27 until Nov. 25. Pearce objected. 
 “I did not feel it was legal or met the requirements of the statute,” he said at the June 23 commissioners’ meeting. 
 Despite his concerns, as the commissioners’ attorney, Pearce helped amend the moratorium ordinance in executive session.
 The altered moratorium resulted in confusion from the public that all development must cease countywide.
 On June 23, Jaeger went before county commissioners asking for clarification.
 “We’d like you to go back to the original moratorium as presented to you... so that this county can continue to operate as it has been for the last 45 years or so,” Jaeger said. 
 Later in the meeting, Pearce clarified the scope of the moratorium. 
 “It’s for land-use development or land division, so it would be actual new buildings,” he said. “A porch, a remodel – would probably be fine under this.” 
 The commissioners have still yet to release Pearce’s memo, which the prosecutor says he cannot release without breaking attorney-client privilege. Pearce also serves as legal counsel for the Planning and Zoning Commission after he did not retain the panel’s former attorney, Will Herrington, after taking office.
 “We’re the client, too,” Jaeger said. “How is he supposed to advise us on what we need to know? It’s not working.”
 Even without the memo or an attorney they trust, the commission plans to revisit the code. 
 “There’s still some things we can start working on,” Jaeger said. 
 The commission unanimously approved the creation of a review panel consisting of Jaeger, Warren, fellow committee members Donovan Galligar and Katie Rollins as well as community members Frank Schwartz and Calvin Hickey.
 The commission just spent several years drafting code revisions that addressed issues like 20-acre splits. Those changes, submitted to the county commissioners in July 2024, were tabled in lieu of Pearce taking office.
 

 

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