Height limit on CdA buildings proposed

At 216 feet, the Coeur d’Alene Resort would remain the tallest tower in town under proposed rules to limit the height of buildings in downtown and all across the city.

Downtown developers could construct buildings up to 75 feet tall – and in some cases go as high as 160 feet or about 14 stories – if they agree to incorporate features that would benefit the public. To get approval for a tower closer in height to businessman Duane Hagadone’s landmark downtown resort, developers would have to give cash donations for city parkland or to the library, museum or theater.

The city also wants to restrict building heights to 75 feet or about six stories in all of Coeur d’Alene’s commercial areas, including along Northwest Boulevard, east Sherman Avenue, the U.S. Highway 95 corridor and Best Avenue. The idea is to keep the tallest buildings downtown.

The public will get its first chance to comment on the city’s proposed building height plan Tuesday at the Coeur d’Alene Planning Commission. City officials aren’t sure how the proposal will go over with the public.

At the heart of the plan is a formula based on the size of the lot and the number of square feet it can support.

Developers could add more square footage, which could translate into more stories, if they incorporate features that would benefit the public.

“It’s not intuitive,” said Tony Berns, executive director of the city’s urban renewal district known as the Lake City Development Corp. Berns is helping the city planning department sell and explain the proposed height rules to property owners. “It takes a while for people to understand, but in the end it’s very valuable.”

He said the ratio gives developers the ability to use more creativity and flexibility when designing downtown buildings.

To get the largest square-footage boost, developers could provide street-level shopping that would help attract pedestrians and make downtown viable and exciting.

Other incentives are incorporating day cares, health clubs, courtyards, public art and water features into buildings.

Developers also could use super bonuses, which are cash donations to local cultural attractions, to get approval for towers closer in height to the Coeur d’Alene Resort.

Berns said city officials want to transform downtown into an urban core that mixes businesses with high-density living, such as condominiums and apartments. Coeur d’Alene wants to encourage high-rise buildings while protecting the city’s views of the nearby mountains, Tubbs Hill and Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Current downtown buildings average about four stories.

To keep that feeling and to make the towers seem less dominating, the city recommends that any building taller than 45 feet would have to have its upper floors set back at least 20 feet.

“People like the light and air that comes through and the glimpses of the mountains,” city Planning Director Dave Yadon said.

There is no current height restriction in Coeur d’Alene.

But there is a limit on the amount of residential units allowed in the downtown area. That’s what the city wants to change with the new height rules. Consultants estimate that only about 12 downtown lots are large enough to have the tallest towers allowed.

To provide housing for the city’s increasing population, Berns said people must eventually live downtown, forgoing traditional large-lot homes with yards and garages.

The height rules and square-footage ratio would apply to the downtown district, which is from Indiana Avenue south to Front Avenue, between Northwest Boulevard and Eighth Street.

The city wants to restrict building heights in all commercial areas outside the downtown core at least until a study is done on those areas, especially the prime waterfront along the Spokane River.

Developer Marshall Chesrown in May unveiled plans to build a 250-foot glass and concrete tower with 20 stories in the Riverstone development on the river, which is outside the downtown core.

It would become the largest building in town. Chesrown said at the time the idea was to create an “icon” so when people got off Interstate 90 they know they are in Coeur d’Alene. The building also would rival Spokane’s tallest buildings.

So far Chesrown has not applied for a building permit so the new height rules would apply, Yadon said. But the restrictions wouldn’t necessarily prevent Chesrown from building the tower of retail shops, office space and condos with views of Lake Coeur d’Alene and the Spokane River.

Yadon said Chesrown could ask for a variance or do a planned unit development, such as the Coeur d’Alene Resort.

“There are no absolutes in this,” Yadon said.