CdA won’t annex island

With Mayor Sandi Bloem casting the deciding vote, the Coeur d’Alene City Council on Tuesday rejected an annexation that developer Duane Hagadone needed for his proposed Blackwell Island development.

“Essentially, I think this means that this annexation is dead,” Deputy City Attorney Warren Wilson said in a phone interview shortly after the council’s 4-3 vote.

Hagadone had asked the city to expand its boundaries to envelop his 78 acres, so he would have city utilities for a development that would include condominiums, shops and offices. The plans included expanding and improving an existing marina.

A unanimous council tentatively approved the annexation last August, praising Hagadone for his vision. “I wish it could happen tomorrow,” Councilwoman Deanna Goodlander said at the time.

But annexation was subject to agreement on fees, public access to the Spokane River waterfront and other matters.

Hagadone and the city spent the last year mired in negotiations about those details, including the width of a bike path and whether the city would get free use of a boat slip. In the end, they remained unsettled, Wilson said. There also were lingering worries about the development’s impact on roads and the environment, he said.

Tuesday night, Goodlander voted to approve the annexation, along with council members Dixie Reid and Woody McEvers. Voting no was Bloem, along with Mike Kennedy, Al Hassell and Ron Edinger.

Without annexation, Hagadone is unlikely to get sewers for the Blackwell proposal. Without sewers he cannot build the development at nearly the density he envisioned.

An expanded marina for larger boats may still be possible if Hagadone can get the necessary state and federal permits to dredge a channel.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is requiring additional tests to determine how much of the soil is contaminated with heavy metals. Its approval will hinge on the outcome of those tests, among other matters.