Agency Agrees To Aid Stone Development However, More Details Needed, Chairman Says

The Coeur d’Alene Urban Renewal Agency agreed unanimously Wednesday to provide some level of monetary help for the Riverstone project on Northwest Boulevard.

Developer John Stone had asked the agency to pay $1.2 million worth of infrastructure improvements on his 73-acre development on Northwest Boulevard.

However, Charlie Nipp, Urban Renewal Agency chairman, said he needed more details about when the money is needed and how it would be used.

“We want to know what we are paying for,” Nipp said.

Jim Coleman, who represented Stone at the meeting, said the planning for the project should be done this month and actual construction of the roads inside the project could start by April 1.

It would be best for the project if the Urban Renewal Agency could provide money by June 1, Coleman said.

“Is this a go or not?” Coleman asked. “That’s the kind of commitment (John Stone) wants.”

“If he’s got to spend $1.3 million on Northwest Boulevard, that means he will have less to spend on the development to make it attractive.”

Any money the Urban Renewal Agency provides - through the sale of bonds - has to be used for things the public will use.

The money could fund improvements to Northwest Boulevard and reroute the Centennial Trail off the busy street. It could go also help pay for construction of a six-lane intersection at Lakewood Drive accessing the Riverstone property.

However, many details need to be worked out - such as coordinating the Riverstone project with planned upgrading of Northwest Boulevard - before a final decision on the amount can be made.

“Our problem becomes how much detail do we need to make that decision,” Nipp said.

Coleman also expressed concern about the city’s plans to upgrade Northwest Boulevard from the Interstate 90 interchange to Sherman Boulevard.

That construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2001.

“We think that’s going to be a huge impact on the project - to have Northwest Boulevard closed when we are trying to open businesses,” he said.

City Engineer Gordon Dobler said the city will work closely with the the Riverstone project to provide the details needed so that work on curbs, sidewalks and a planned traffic light isn’t duplicated.