Zoning rules aid Post Falls growth
POST FALLS – The availability of subsidized home-loan programs is one reason this North Idaho now has several high-density and multifamily subdivision proposals going through the public hearing process, officials say.
Demographics make Post Falls different from other nearby communities, allowing subsidized home loans to be more easily obtained here, said Howard Lunderstadt, single-family housing specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Agency.
“Post Falls is still considered rural in the eyes of the agency,” Lunderstadt told the Coeur d’Alene Press. “Coeur d’Alene, Dalton and Hayden are not because it’s basically one community as far as we are concerned.”
Developers have recognized that and have proposed a number of high-density and multifamily subdivisions for Post Falls.
“It’s a factor of economics and demand,” said Collin Coles, the community’s senior planner. “The price of property goes up, so the only thing to do is make more smaller lots to keep prices at a reasonable level.”
Lunderstadt said his agency considers affordable housing to be about $150,000 or less.
Copper Basin Construction of Hayden has proposed building a 49-unit single-family project on 7 acres in Post Falls – one of the proposals city planners will consider in December.
Copper Basin also wants to build 700 affordable homes on 290 acres between Post falls and Hauser. That plan is being readied for a February public hearing on a zone-change request before Kootenai County commissioners.
According to Copper Basin’s request, “The need for affordable work-force housing has reached a critical turning point in this county. Workers and their families are being forced to leave.”
In December, city planners are scheduled to consider two more multifamily projects by other developers. One is for 14 lots on 5.2 acres, and another for a 120-unit request on 9.6 acres that would include 17 buildings.
Coles said different housing types are needed for the area.
“Retirees may be looking for a larger lot, but the younger, mobile people in the service industry may want to rent an apartment or buy a condo,” he said. “Then there’s the young families that are moving to the area who want something in between. There’s a lot of demographic shifts as well as economic shifts going on.”