Foxtail opinion due next week
A hearing officer’s recommendation on whether a proposed 280-acre subdivision on the Rathdrum Prairie should be permitted will be handed down next week. Hayden LLC wants to build the Foxtail housing development, a high-density residential and commercial development. It would be situated just outside Post Falls’ city limits on land bordered east and west by Highway 41 and Meyer Road, respectively, and north and south between Prairie and Poleline avenues.
The developers’ representatives pleaded the case July 5 before Lisa Key, a hearing officer hired by Kootenai County.
Key’s opinion on the project is advisory. But Kootenai County Commissioners will consider it before holding a second public hearing on the matter, which has already been rejected four times by the city of Post Falls.
During the meeting, Tri-State Consulting Engineers and attorney Bob Dunn asked for Key to take the first step in the process by recommending to Kootenai County commissioners that the property be rezoned from agricultural to restricted residential.
Such a change would permit construction of up to five houses per acre within Foxtail.
Currently, only one house per five acres is allowed in the area, which is predominantly sparsely-populated undeveloped farm and pasture land. Houses, horses, cattle, sheep and hay are found on the surrounding land.
Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin asked Key to recommend the project be denied.
Larkin believes development is premature, given that the city sewer does not yet service the area. A subdivision atop the aquifer would endanger the water supply that serves 500,000 residents in the region, he said.
“Sewer service should be done in an orderly fashion,” Larkin said. “The (property) owners want it right now.” Post Falls does not annex areas without sewer service in place.
Larkin said he believes the proposal “conflicts with numerous Kootenai County plans for aquifer protection.”
The Post Falls Mayor reminded Key that a major study on how to best expand sewer and water to such outlying areas is being jointly conducted by officials from Post Falls, Rathdrum and Hayden. Recommendations in the $300,000 study should be considered before development of this scale is approved, he said.
Terry Jacklin, of the Jacklin Seed Co. family, originally owned most of the property in question. In recent years, he sold off the 280 acres but held on to surrounding acreage.
He made an impassioned appeal that the development be permitted. Bans on burning now make the property unsuited for bluegrass farming, Jacklin said.
“It’s our 401(k). We farmed for 50 years and employed a lot of North Idaho residents,” he said. “Now it’s our time to cash in some of our land to have some of the same retirement benefits as other people.”
Jacklin mentioned a string of generous gifts his family has made over the years to various area entities that continue to benefit the regional community.
“The Jacklin family should be treated a little bit nicer than other neighbors,” he said. Jacklin entered into the transaction, he said, believing the acreage – close to highway and freeway access – would be ideal for future homes and shops.
Dunn insisted the conflict is a “turf war” instigated by Post Falls as a way to “warehouse” the land and “monopolize” revenue streams that would be generated by a city-run wastewater treatment facility.
“Post Falls wants to be the sole decision maker. What the city wants you to believe is that you don’t have the authority to make a recommendation,” Dunn told Key.
He said a privately owned and constructed sewer system could be installed to serve the project, which would nullify some of Post Falls’ opposition to additional housing close to, but outside, the city’s limits.
Key will file a written recommendation on the request before July 19.