Developer Has Designs On Post Falls 1,613 Homes Expected To Strain Services

A Spokane developer says the 1,613-unit subdivision he hopes to build would bring an enlightened approach to community planning in Post Falls.

Enlightened or not, his plans arouse concerns about worsening a real-estate glut and further overwhelming the public school system.

“I think there is a much better chance of addressing the school problems when you do good land-use planning than when you do piecemeal development, like is done now,” said Jim Frank, president of Greenstone-Kootenai Inc.

Gary R. Schneidmiller, the local real estate agent who owns the property at Chase and Pole Line roads where the Montrose Community is planned, has donated land at the site for a school.

But Linda Holehan, who cochaired the latest of three school bond campaigns that have failed since 1994, says that isn’t enough.

“Land had to be set aside for the school site, and that’s really good,” Holehan said. “But it doesn’t build the building.”

Schneidmiller’s property has been used mostly to grow bluegrass since his family homesteaded nearly 50 years ago. In 1992, the land was annexed by the city. In 1994, the City Council approved the zoning changes that made development possible.

The Montrose proposal, unveiled this week, includes single-family, cluster and apartment-type dwellings, along with land set aside for a community center, three parks, open spaces, and the school.

There also would be adjacent business and industrial parks designed to attract high-tech firms like those that surround another of Frank’s developments in the Spokane Valley.

“It’s going to be similar to Meadowwood (near Liberty Lake) in that it’s going to have a full range of services within walking distance,” said Frank.

More development in Post Falls is inevitable, Frank said.

“But you can develop in a planned way, or you can develop the way Post Falls is being developed now,” Frank said. “Post Falls deserves better than that.”

But Holehan said Post Falls must address existing school overcrowding before new developments bring in more kids. She says when her kids returned from spring break, there were 11 new students at the junior high.

“That may not seem like a lot, but it’s 11 more kids in classes that are already overcrowded,” she said. “Until a bond issue is passed, we’re going to continue to outgrow ourselves.”

Post Falls School District Superintendent Richard Harris said the district has a policy of not speaking for or against any development. But he did agree that with the city’s growth expectations, the district is in dire need of new facilities.

“We’re currently double-shifting at the junior high school in grades 6, 7, and 8,” Harris said. “There’s nothing in the hopper now, but we’ve talked about putting the high school bond issue on the ballot in the spring of 1998.”

The Montrose Community is the latest in string of big housing developments on the Rathdrum Prairie - the likes of which include Prairie Ridge, Singing Hills, and Quail Run.

In the Post Falls-Coeur d’Alene market, there already are more than 1,800 homes vacant. In Post Falls alone, there also are 1,400 sites that have been given the go-ahead for construction, but still are undeveloped.

Frank Moran, who spoke out against the zoning changes on Schneidmiller’s property in 1994, has watched the city’s unchecked growth since he retired here nine years ago. He hasn’t seen plans for Montrose Community yet, but isn’t excited at the prospect of even more homes.

“I think there are too many houses in Post Falls,” Moran says. “In a lot of these new developments, there are no yards, and they’ve cut the trees. It looks like a big trailer park.”

Associate city planner Collin Coles says he doesn’t know whether the market will be able to accommodate a development like Montrose. Even though the population of Post Falls is expected to top 22,000 in the year 2002 - up from about 14,200 today - there are too many factors to be able to predict what Post Falls will look like.

“I’m confident we’re going to continue to grow, but at what rate is anybody’s guess,” he said.

Public hearings on the Montrose Community are set to begin April 24.

One key in assessing this project, which would be completed in five phases between 1997 and 2010, will be paying attention to how Greenstone approaches each step, Coles said. There are no guarantees that a project will be completed according to its original plan, should economic conditions sour.

“You just want to make sure each piece of the puzzle is a piece toward a whole, and if something happens along the way, they aren’t left with just a half of a street,” Coles said.

Greenstone’s Frank conceded that housing and development are cyclical, governed by unpredictable factors. Greenstone naturally would adjust to meet the housing demand in the Post Falls area as it changed, he said.

But Frank said Greenstone isn’t just here simply to build houses inside of a year, pack up its tools, and leave.

“Look at our track record,” Frank said. “Look at Coeur d’Alene Place (another Greenstone development). Look at Meadowwood. We’ve got a history of doing things right.”

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