Vote Put Off on Homes by Indian Cemetery
The Wallowa County Board of Commissioners will wait another week before deciding whether to approve the construction of 11 upscale homes on land considered culturally significant to the Nez Perce Indians.
The county commissioners deliberated for two hours Monday before deciding to continue the hearing a week.
The proposed subdivision is near a Nez Perce cemetery that includes the grave of Old Chief Joseph. His son, young Chief Joseph, and his band of Nez Perce were forced to abandon the area in 1877 and begin a running battle with the U.S. Cavalry that ended with their surrender 1,500 miles away, near the Canadian border.
The Wallowa County Planning Commission approved a tentative plan for the development in December; the county commission is considering appeals from the Nez Perce and other Northwest tribes.
About two dozen people attended the hearing, which was limited to discussion among the commissioners on procedural matters.
A key issue was whether archeological protections should be in place now, or when the final plat would be approved in a year or two. The planning commission voted to allow protections to be determined at the later date.
Tribal attorneys say the protections should have been set before the preliminary plat was approved.
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