CdA working on Tubbs Hill parking lot deal

A lakefront business wants to expand but doesn’t have enough space for parking, so it’s asking the city to share its east Tubbs Hill lot.

Hanna and Associates, an advertising agency, is located on a narrow Lakeshore Drive lot next to Tubbs Hill. It wants to add one foot to the height of the building and remodel it into two floors so it can add a few more employees and a conference room. The city is requiring the building’s owner, Don Anderson, to provide additional parking spaces if it expands. There’s no room on the already cramped lot for more off-street parking, so Anderson is asking the city to expand the east Tubbs Hill parking lot by about seven spaces.

The office would use the slots during work hours, and Tubbs Hill users could use the parking spaces the rest of the time. The city would maintain and plow the lot.

In exchange, Anderson would grant the city an easement across his property so the city parking lot can have a second exit, easing congestion. Currently the lot has one entrance, which is also the exit. Cars have to back out of the parking spaces and turn around to leave. Often, drivers back into the wooden bollards that separate the parking lot from the trailhead, keeping city maintenance crews busy, City Parks Director Doug Eastwood said.

The new parking lot would have angle parking and a separate exit. Because traffic would flow one-way, drivers would no longer have to turn around.

Anderson also would help the city finish landscaping the north end of the park at 10th Street and Mountain Avenue, including extending the irrigation system and planting new trees, Eastwood said. There is no cost estimate yet.

“It’s going to be a good improvement for the park,” said Anderson, who has leased the building to Hanna and Associates for years. His Lakeshore Reality office is just north of the advertising building and next to where the new parking lot exit would be located.

Eastwood said the city has other shared parking agreements, such as at the Third Street parking lot.

The Coeur d’Alene Parks and Recreation Committee postponed making a recommendation until the Tubbs Hill Foundation could review the idea. The Foundation, which has no jurisdiction over city decisions, recommended Thursday to accept the shared parking agreement.

But not all members agreed.

Bob Eagan said he thinks the city should get more out of the deal than seven new parking spaces. He wants Anderson to give to the city a small strip of land that abuts Tubbs Hill. Eagan said the spot is useless and that Anderson plans to landscape it to blend with the current park. Even though the strip is tiny, Eagan said it’s always smart to add property to the Tubbs Hill park whenever there is a chance.

Eagan also is against having commercial businesses in the mostly residential neighborhood.

“It’s not a good idea to help them expand,” Eagan said. “If anything, we ought to try and shrink (the commercial presence).”

The Parks Commission will meet June 21 to make a recommendation on the proposal, which will then go the city Planning Commission. After having a public hearing, the Planning Commission will make a final decision.

The Coeur d’Alene City Council wouldn’t hear the proposal unless somebody appeals the Planning Commission’s decision, Eastwood said.

Because the Hanna and Associates building is on the Lake Coeur d’Alene shoreline, it must comply with the city’s 20-foot height restriction. Currently, the building is 19 feet tall, so the proposed 2,400 square-foot addition can only add one foot in height.

City Planning Director Dave Yadon said the addition shouldn’t have much effect on current lakefront views.

For more information, call 769-2300.