Developer plans to donate beach to city

Coeur d’Alene will have a new, sandy beach along the Spokane River, perhaps ready for boaters, swimmers and picnickers by late summer.

The 1,000 feet of waterfront is part of the new Mill River development off Seltice Way on the former Crown Pacific mill site. Developers Tom Johnson and Cliff Mort, of Neighborhood Inc., plan to start construction this spring – already having done some initial earth-moving work – and then donate the beach to the city when it’s completed. The city will become responsible for its maintenance and operation.

The 1.7-acre park, which doesn’t yet have a name, will become the first city beach on the Spokane River. It will complement Coeur d’Alene’s lakefront parks: City Park, Independence Point, Jewett House and Tubbs Hill.

The beach is about 250 feet west of a 60,000-square-foot U.S. Bank call center in the northeast corner of the Mill River development.

“Any waterfront public access is always very important,” Parks Director Doug Eastwood said. “This is a real good thing for the community.”

The park will include a couple of day docks where boats can moor for a few hours while people use the beach. The property also will have a picnic shelter, restroom and promenade along the entire waterfront of the development.

The Coeur d’Alene Planning Commission will have a public hearing April 11 on a request for a special-use permit to allow construction of the public beach, which includes importing sand. The permit will ensure the park details comply with city standards, Eastwood said.

Although the park is narrow and small, Eastwood said there is potential for more public open space in Mill River if the Union Pacific Railroad tracks that run through the development are abandoned. He doesn’t know when or if that will happen.

Neighborhood Inc. is using $300,000 from Lake City Development Corporation, the city’s urban renewal agency, to develop the park. The money is part of the $3.4 million LCDC provided to the project to help provide water, sewer lines and other public utilities. The cash comes from tax increment financing, a method of public funding through the use of urban renewal districts. As the districts’ property values increase, a portion of the increased tax revenues returns to LCDC coffers.

“It’s a small little piece but a nice spot on the water,” LCDC Executive Director Tony Berns said.

Because the company is giving the finished park to the city, Coeur d’Alene doesn’t have the direct expense of buying or developing the property.

“It’s rare and it’s very good,” Eastwood said of the gift, adding that the developers know it’s a “nice calling card” for their subdivision.

Neighborhood Inc. representatives didn’t return phone calls this week.