The debate over Camas County's new zoning rules may move next to the voting booth.

After a 20,000-acre county rezone was nullified as part of an ongoing lawsuit earlier this year, county officials passed another, similar new zoning map, ordinance, land use map and comprehensive plan in April and May in an attempt to allow new construction projects to progress in the county.

Now, county resident Bob Rodman, a former Planning and Zoning Commission member who claimed he was thrown off the board when he brought up concerns about the new plan two years ago, wants to allow county residents to vote on the rezone.

A referendum drafted by Rodman would seek to repeal the maps, plan and ordinance. The goal, he said, is to shift the debate from the two groups involved in the lawsuit to the voters.

"What happens here is that we're going to find out who's happy with it and who ain't," Rodman said, "instead of one group of people telling another group that they have the right idea and that everyone backs that idea."

Of course, Rodman first has to work all the kinks out of his proposal. His first version was submitted on June 10, and after reviewing the draft, county prosecuting attorney Calvin Campbell wrote that he felt it violated both the Idaho Land Use Planning Act and established case law.

The language was too vague, Campbell wrote in a June 24 letter to County Clerk Rollie Bennett, and could possibly eliminate "all zoning ordinances and comprehensive plans in existence" in the county. Also, he wrote, a previous court case - Gumprecht v. City of Coeur d'Alene - established that the initiative process cannot be used for zoning rules.

"The bottom line is the Idaho appellate courts have deemed that the initiative process is inappropriate in dealing with planning and zoning issues," Campbell said last week.

On Wednesday, Rodman said he has since submitted another, more succinct draft of the referendum to the county, and expects this one to be cleared to appear on the November ballot. He criticized Campbell's reasoning and pointed out that parts of Gumprecht have since been overturned by more recent Idaho Supreme Court cases involving a Ten Commandments display in Boise and pro-marijuana initiatives in Sun Valley.

In both of those cases, a majority of justices found that any initiative proposal "would remain only a proposal unless passed by the voters," at which point its legality could be questioned by local government entities, according to court records.

"It's not a working law," Rodman said of his reading of the newer cases. "It has been modified by the courts enough that it doesn't apply at all to what we're doing."

Neither Campbell nor Bennett could be reached Wednesday for comment on the second version or the court cases. County Commission Chairman Ken Backstrom, however, said that should the referendum make it onto the ballot, he's not worried about it passing.

"I can't imagine that people would want to elect people to make decisions and then pass a referendum to undo what they've done," Backstrom said.

Rodman, who also in June set up a legal defense fund to pay for challenging the zoning rules, said he expects voters will pass his referendum, and that people will be willing to share their true feelings in the privacy of the voting booth.

Nate Poppino may be reached at 208-735-3237 or npoppino@magicvalley.com.

NewsTracker Last we knew: Developer George Martin Jr. sued Camas County over county rules that rezoned at least 20,000 acres in March 2007. The latest: Former P&Z member Bob Rodman is attempting to get a referendum on the November ballot asking voters to repeal newer zoning rules passed in May. What's next: County officials have yet to decide whether a second draft of the referendum follows state law.