In brief: New hearing set on Timber Creek plan

The Kootenai County Commission plans to hold another public hearing on a gated residential development overlooking Hayden Lake that could include a 36-slip community dock.

Commissioners Rich Piazza and Todd Tondee said last week they still have lingering questions about Timber Creek, a proposal by Oregon-based McDougal Brothers Investments to build 46 lots on a basalt bluff overlooking the north side of the lake off English Point Road.

Commission Chairman Rick Currie said he was opposed to the project.

The new hearing is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 13. The commission had its initial hearing in June and toured the 57 acres.

Neighbors organized as the Hayden Lake Protective Association oppose the development because of increased traffic and concerns that the luxury development could set a bad precedent since a homeowners association, instead of individual property owners, would control the waterfront.

For more information, call (208) 446-1600.

– Erica Curless

Coeur d’Alene

CdA agency seeks building partner

Coeur d’Alene’s urban renewal agency is still looking for a partner to develop three vacant lots in midtown.

Local contractor Tom Messina withdrew his proposal to construct a retail/office building in the 800 block of Fourth Street last month, indicating the project wouldn’t pencil out for him.

The agency is now in discussion with the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, to see if money is available to construct residential units on the site, said Tony Berns, the agency’s executive director.

The agency wants to do a pilot project on the three lots it owns, encouraging other landowners to think about what they could do with their properties, Berns said.

The midtown neighborhood stretches north from downtown to Interstate 90.

A thriving shopping district during the 1950s and 1960s, the area waned with the advent of malls and big-box retailers, but affordable rents have attracted new businesses in recent years.

– Becky Kramer