Zoning Hearing Tonight Post Falls To Hear Comments On Two Subdivision Plans

Developers will pitch plans today for two new subdivisions that would add 336 homes here.

Residents also will get their chance to voice opinions on the proposed subdivisions tonight at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.

Coeur d’Alene’s Kiwanis Club wants zoning approval to sell half of an 87-acre parcel along the Spokane River at the end of Ross Point Road. In exchange for turning half that parcel into a city park, the club wants approval to sell the other half to a developer for a 141-home subdivision.

Hayden Lake-based Viking Construction also is asking for approval for a 195-home subdivision on the prairie west of town.

Increased traffic, loss of privacy, reduced property value and impact on local schools are the most common concerns of residents questioned recently about the Kiwanis Club proposal.

Charlie Johnson, who is managing the Kiwanis project, said Monday that those concerns can be tempered.

“We plan to meet with those concerned about the subdivision design to see if we can come up with some reasonable solution,” Johnson said. “The developer we select will have to be willing to participate in such a process.”

The club sent out about 300 questionnaires last month, asking civic groups and residents to comment about the park and subdivision’s design as well as the club’s rezoning request.

Only 62 people responded to the surveys, Johnson said, and about half of the responses were favorable to the project. Twenty-five percent of the respondents supported the park, but had concerns about the subdivision. Another 25 percent were opposed to both the park and subdivision, Johnson said.

Money from the housing development is necessary to finance the waterfront park’s construction and pay for additional community projects. he said.

In order for the single-family homes to be built, the city must agree to rezone 45 acres of the club’s property. The club is also asking the city to consider leasing the park area for $1 a year for the next 50 years.

On Feb. 22, Post Falls’ Park and Recreation Commission decided unanimously to approve the park.

Although new home construction has slowed in recent years, Post Falls posted 493 home sales last year, according to the Coeur d’Alene Board of Realtors.

“Post Falls is in a great position to benefit from the low to low-mid home buyer,” said John Williams, the association’s president. “They come over in droves from the Spokane Valley.”

“It’s not ‘build it anywhere and they will come,”’ Williams said. “But they already have the buyer coming over the border. A good subdivision will do well.”

Developer and builder Wendell Olson believes he has a new concept for his 35-acre subdivision in Post Falls. Olson hopes the commission will rezone land east of Green Ferry Road, between 12th and Mullan avenues, to a “mixed-use subdivision” of 195 homes and townhouses called “Greensferry Junction,” Olson said

Most of the development will be single-family homes, but townhouses and senior housing also will be included.

A 4,000-square-foot community center with day care is planned, as well as a 6-acre park with hiking and biking trails.

“The concept is that we will bring different generations together,” said Michael Hunt, planner from Lake City Engineering.

Hunt proposed the idea to city council members on Jan. 4. Members gave him the “green light” to proceed with plans to rezone the land, which developers hope to begin construction on by summer.

“This is a relatively new concept,” Hunt said. “We want to bring everyone together in a safe environment.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: HEARING

Post Falls Planning and Zoning Commission hearing is at 6 p.m. today at City Hall, 408 Spokane St.