CdA neighbors’ views heard
Christina Mann has had a park view for 20 years. She’s worried that soon she may look out her front door at a blacktop parking lot.
The Coeur d’Alene School District is hoping to build a new Lakes Middle School on Persons Field and the parking lot for that new school would be right across the street from Mann’s house.
She and other neighbors are concerned that the school would mean more traffic on the narrow side streets and that the three-story brick building would block their views. The Coeur d’Alene Planning Commission took heed of the neighbors’ concerns on Tuesday and denied a conditional use permit to build a school there.
Mike Patano, architect for the project, can appeal to the City Council. The Planning Commission ruled that the district could make changes to the proposal and bring it back for reconsideration.
John Bruning, chairman of the Planning Commission, said the main concern of neighbors was the loss of Persons Field – their neighborhood park.
“It’s been a field forever,” he said. “I can remember it as a kid when I lived here and that’s a long time ago.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Persons Field was quiet and mostly deserted. One man jogged the track, taking breaks to play fetch with his dog.
Mann said the field is often a hub of activity on weekends in the fall, when junior tackle football games bring excited children and cheering fans. Rugby, lacrosse and soccer teams also play at Persons.
City Parks Director Doug Eastwood said the district’s plan for Persons Field includes green space and he doesn’t think the city will lose any play space if the school is built there. The city owns half the field and the school district owns the other half, Eastwood said.
The city got its half of the field about 10 years ago by trading some city-owned land near Lake City High to the school district. Now the school district is trying to trade or purchase back that half of Persons Field.
Superintendent Harry Amend said the school district’s long-range planning committee preferred the Persons Field site because it would allow the district to keep the school in the downtown area. Building anew, rather than rebuilding Lakes, will allow the district to keep students at the existing school during construction.
Amend said the long-range planning committee’s recommendations, and the $50 million levy proposal to fund the new school and other projects, were part of a two-year strategic planning process. That process included four public forums and more than 40 meetings with members of the community, Amend said.
“We first began talking about the use of Persons as a site last spring,” Amend said. “I think I received two phone calls with questions about it.”
But at Tuesday evening’s Planning Commission meeting, 13 neighbors spoke against rebuilding Lakes at Persons Field.
Amend said he understood the concerns of neighbors, and said that he thought the planning process was a good one. He said the issue was important enough that it should be decided by the City Council.