Island Developers Seek Access Funds Council Ignores Request And Asks For More Changes In Annexation Agreement

Developers of Blackwell Island asked the City Council to pay them some $350,000 for public access to a bicycle path and other facilities Tuesday evening.

“I don’t think they were very serious,” councilwoman Dixie Reid said. “More power to them for trying - a lot of this negotiation is how far can I push you. They tried the ultimate push.”

Instead of doling out the dollars, the council asked for more changes in the lengthy annexation agreement that ultimately would mean the island becomes the first official piece of Coeur d’Alene south of the Spokane River. Part of that agreement requires developer Mark Hall to pay $171,000 to the city.

That reimburses the city for its costs until property taxes kick in, Reid said.

The three top issues being negotiated by the city and the Hall family are the size of that fee, the sewer system and proposals for parking, boating and public access, said city attorney Jeff Jones. The agreement likely will go back before the council next month, he said.

The Halls are proposing a 220-unit recreational vehicle park on the island and a 10-acre commercial development.

Opponents of the development are hammering away at the annexation agreement. It clearly spells out the Rural Kootenai Organization’s worst fears, attorney Chuck Sheroke said.

Rural Kootenai has long objected to the development and annexation because it would take city water and sewer across the river and fuel an explosion of development to the south, the group said.

The provisions include accommodations for a 10-inch sewer main in the future that would easily handle development beyond the island, Sheroke said.

The group, which is suing the City Council over its decision to allow the development, also believes that a “hold-harmless” clause in the agreement won’t hold up if there are problems with the old landfill on Blackwell Island.

Councilwoman Reid agrees. “We understand it might not hold, then again it might,” she said. But the clause is standard in any agreement, Reid said.

Rural Kootenai also believes the annexation agreement should require a traffic study. Traffic traveling U.S. Highway 95 to get to the RV park, in addition to traffic headed to a nearby project proposed by the BLM “is creating a hazard at the intersection,” Sheroke said.

But Mayor Al Hassell said the city cannot require a traffic study because the Blackwell development isn’t going to generate enough cars to trigger the appropriate city ordinance. The Idaho Department of Transportation can require the study, Hassell said.

Finally, Rural Kootenai objects to the city allowing the development on the island because it is below the 100-year flood plain. The island flooded in February.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials say they have not been asked for an opinion on the development. The agency generally considers RV parks appropriate for flood plains with appropriate flood-warning systems.

Rural Kootenai will add its objections to the suit it filed, Sheroke said.

, DataTimes