Churches asking to expand

Post Falls’ Immaculate Conception Catholic Church is outgrowing its postage-stamp sized lots along Interstate 90 and wants to expand, starting with a proposal to move its boys high school to the Rathdrum Prairie.

The church, in which Mass is conducted in Latin, is asking Kootenai County for a conditional-use permit to build the high school on 20 acres north of Post Falls on Bodine Avenue.

A hearing examiner has scheduled a public hearing tonight on the proposal. Also on the agenda is a request by the Rev. John DeVries, a Post Falls pastor, for a conditional-use permit to build a church at the corner of Greensferry Road and Prairie Avenue.

Engineer John Kinney, a member of the Catholic parish, said that the grand plan is to annex the property north of Prairie Avenue into the Post Falls city limits. That would enable the congregation to build a new church, a K-12 school for up to 500 boys and housing for priests and teachers.

But for now, the church can only build a gym that it would use as a temporary high school to ease overcrowding. Until the property can be serviced by city sewer, Panhandle Health District will only permit a septic system for up to 133 people. Currently, the high school has about 60 boys while the grade school accommodates 140 children.

“We are feeling growth pains,” Kinney said.

DeVries’ Wellsprings of Life Christian Fellowship has outgrown its tiny room above a Post Falls garage. That’s why he is proposing a 15,600-square-foot building on 9 acres.

DeVries, who is part of a three-person ministerial team, is concerned that Post Falls wants the county to require the church to meet city standards for streets and sidewalks. The property is within Post Falls’ area of city impact, which means it’s in the city’s growth path.

DeVries said that would increase building costs by as much as 60 percent, including $120,000 to make improvements to Greensferry Road. He said that’s a lot of money for a small congregation of about 40 people, consisting mostly of single mothers, widows and people recovering from drug and alcohol addictions.

“It’s just money grabbing,” DeVries said, adding that the church would be happy to pay the additional cost once it is actually annexed into the city.

DeVries, who also is a local developer, was awarded a $2.3 million verdict in May by a Kootenai County jury. According to the 2003 lawsuit, DeVries had an option to buy 138 acres of Rathdrum Prairie farmland, but his real estate agent, Joe Dobson of Coldwell Banker/Schneidmiller Realty, found another buyer for the parcel. Dobson became a 10 percent owner in the property. He and the other developer later resold the land, earning more than $1 million on the sale, court records show.

DeVries said he has personal wealth but his church doesn’t. He already has helped out by contributing to the purchase of the property.

“If I was doing this as a developer, this would be a whole different story,” he said regarding his complaint about Post Falls’ demands. “This is a church.”

Post Falls senior planner Collin Coles said the city treats all properties in the area of city impact the same and that developers need to bring them up to city standards.

Like Immaculate Conception, the growth of DeVries’ church is limited until it can get annexed into the city and access sewer. The Panhandle Health District has limited capacity to 305 people, and day care and school programs aren’t allowed. In the future, DeVries said, the church would like to add another 16,000-square-foot sanctuary.

Kinney said his church has no problem bringing its property up to city standards.

“We are going to have to face that anyway,” he said.

The 6 p.m. hearing is at the county Administration Building, 451 Government Way. For more information, call (208) 446-1070.