Dover housing development approved

A Sandpoint developer has won approval to build more than 500 new homes along the Pend Oreille River, transforming Dover, Idaho, from a sleepy little town into a resort area.

The Dover Bay project will create housing, parks, trails and dedicated open space on 285 acres along the river. Developer Ralph Sletager could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

In a press release, he said that many of the homes and condos would become second homes for people in search of river acreage and mountain views in a tranquil, rural setting. Dover Bay’s first phase will include 100 condos, cabins and single-family homes.

The land includes inlets and marshy areas. About half of it will be dedicated to open space.

The city of Dover, with 342 residents, lies about three miles west of Sandpoint, a fast-growing resort town.

The new development has the potential to triple or quadruple Dover’s population base.

“Many residents will say, ‘Gee, I liked Dover just the way it was before this,’ ” Dover City Councilman Jim Janish said. “Change comes nonetheless. … It was not just going to remain an industrial wasteland.”

Development discussions started more than a decade ago, after Dover’s waterfront sawmill burned in 1991.

“Everybody knew this land would be developed someday,” said Dover Mayor Randy Curless. “This is the best proposition that’s come forward.”

The Dover City Council spent two years hammering out a 17-page development agreement with Sletager, which was adopted unanimously by the council last week.

“We wanted to make it as beneficial for local residents as possible,” Janish said.

Sletager agreed to a number of concessions.

He’ll build a new city hall, dedicate a stretch of shoreline as public beach, and donate 9 acres of public parkland to the city, along with 7½ acres of trails.

He’ll also pay for the infrastructure associated with Dover Bay, including any necessary improvements to Dover’s sewer treatment plant.

Each home built will generate $1,000 in impact fees for Dover. The city will use the money for projects like maintaining the new parks, Curless said.

Dover currently has no parks. As a result of Dover Bay, the city will end up with one of the highest ratios of parkland to residents in North Idaho, he said.

The development plan stipulates that Sletager work with federal agencies to resolve issues related to the Pend Oreille River’s 100-year flood plain.

The city used federal grants and loans to build a new sewer treatment plant in the late 1990s. At the time, the council agreed not to allow any new development within the 100-year flood plain.

Part of Dover Bay, including a sizable number of building lots, lie within the flood plain, Curless said.